^  KRISTY'S 
QUEER  CHRISTMAS 


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HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  &  COMPANY, 
BOSTON,  NEW  YORK,  AND  CHICAGO. 


KRISTY'S   QUEER   CHRISTMAS 


Page  Irti 
THE   TREE  WAS  TO  THEM    LIKE   A   GLIMPSE   OF   FAIRYLAND 


KRISTY'S 

QUEER 
CHRISTMAS 


OLIVE   THORNE   MILLER 


BOSTON 
AND  NEW  YORK       f* 

HOUGHTON 

MIFFLIN  &  CO. 

1904 


COPYRIGHT    1904  BY   H.  M.  MILLER 
ALL    RIGHTS    RESERVED 

Published  October  1904 


7 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAGE 

I.     HOW   IT    HAPPENED 1 

II.   CHRISTMAS  ON  THE  PRAIRIE      ...  8 

III.  A  DROLL  SANTA  CLAUS 29 

IV.  How  A  BEAR  BROUGHT  CHRISTMAS  .        .  53 
V.   CHRISTMAS  UNDER  THE  SNOW        ...  67 

VI.   CAROL'S  GOOD  WILL 85 

VII.  OUT  OF  AN  ASH-BARREL       ....  104 

VIII.   How  A  TOBOGGAN  BROUGHT  FORTUNE      .  121 

IX.   THE  TELLTALE  TILE 136 

X.   THE  BIRDS'  CHRISTMAS  TREE    .        .        .  153 

XI.   How  THE  HORSE  TOLD 173 

XII.   THE  CAT'S  CHARM      ...        .        .  187 

XIII.  MAY'S  HAPPY  THOUGHT         .        .        .        .205 

XIV.  THE  MAGIC  FIGURE    .        ...        .  220 
XV.   CHRISTMAS  IN  THE  ALLEY  236 


9-f  5?c»5r 
-sLGoO 


KRISTY'S    QUEER   CHRISTMAS 

CHAPTER  I 

HOW  IT  HAPPENED 

THE  way  Kristy  came  to  have  a  queer  Christ- 
mas at  all,  was  this :  she  had  been  very  ill  at 
her  grandmother's,  and  though  she  tried  her 
best,  and  the  good  doctor  tried  his  best,  she 
could  not  get  well  enough  to  go  home  for 
Christmas. 

This  was  a  great  grief,  of  course,  for  all  the 
girls  were  having  fine  times  in  town,  Christ- 
mas trees  and  all  sorts  of  festive  doings,  and 
Kristy  thought  so  much  about  it  all  and  felt 
so  bad  about  it  that  the  doctor  began  to 
shake  his  head  again. 

So  Mamma  told  Kristy  that  she  might  plan 
anything  she  liked,  to  celebrate  the  day,  and 
if  it  were  possible,  she  should  have  her  way. 

This  was  a  capital  idea  of  Mamma's,  for  it 


2  KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

gave  Kristy  something  to  think  of  for  sev- 
eral days  before  she  hit  upon  just  such  a  pro- 
gramme as  she  should  like  best.  Christmas 
trees  she  was  tired  of,  and  besides,  a  tree  would 
be  stupid  where  she  was  the  only  young  person. 
At  last  a  happy  thought  came  to  her,  which 
almost  made  her  dance  with  delight.  She 
would  have  a  party,  a  new  kind  of  a  party, 
and  give  everybody  a  surprise.  How  her 
guests  would  like  it  she  did  not  know,  but 
that  she  should  enjoy  it  she  was  sure. 

She  told  Mamma  her  plan,  first  making  her 
promise  to  keep  it  secret,  at  least  the  surprise 
part  of  it,  and  Mamma  approved. 

It  was  to  be  in  Grandma's  big,  old-fashioned 
kitchen,  with  its  shining  oak  ceiling  and  pol- 
ished floor.  The  stove  that  was  used  for  cook- 
ing in  these  days  was  to  be  taken  away ;  the 
great  fireplace  nearly  across  the  whole  end  of 
the  room  was  to  be  uncovered.  The  tall  brass 
"  fire-dogs  "  with  their  queer  heads  were  to  be 
put  in  place,  and  a  royal  fire  of  logs  built  up. 
^  There  was  to  be  no  other  light  in  the  room, 
and  here  on  Christmas  eve  her  party  was  to 


HOW  IT  HAPPENED  3 

assemble  to  be  surprised.  After  that  was  over 
they  would  be  treated  to  doughnuts,  apples, 
and  cider  —  not  another  thing. 

Mamma  consulted  with  Grandma,  and  the 
whole  thing  was  arranged  just  as  Kristy 
wished.  Invitations  were  sent  out,  mostly  to 
uncles  and  aunts  and  kind  neighbors,  and 
hardly  a  person  under  twenty  years  of  age. 

•  When  Grandma  saw  this  queer  list  of  guests 
she  was  surprised,  and  suggested  that  quite  a 
nice  party  could  be  brought  together,  even 
here  in  the  country,  of  young  people.  But 
Kristy  laughed  and  said  she  did  n't  want  a 
single  girl  to  giggle  and  disturb,  and  added 
that  Grandma  would  understand  when  she 
heard  the  surprise. 

The  day  before  Christmas  there  were  great 
doings  in  the  big  kitchen.  The  stove  was  car- 
ried into  the  laundry  and  a  big  pan  of  dough- 
nuts, or  nut-cakes  as  they  called  them,  were 
cooked,  while  the  fire-board  was  taken  away 
and  the  fireplace  filled  with  big  sticks  on  a' 
foundation  of  solid  log. 

Then  Aunt  Jeanie  came  over  from  her  house 


4  KRISTY'S   QUEER   CHRISTMAS 

and  hung  the  room  with  evergreen  and  bitter- 
sweet, and  laid  down  a  big  rug  before  the  fire, 
on  one  side  of  which  was  placed  like  a  throne 
the  great  "  sick-chair  "  out  of  the  attic,  cov- 
ered with  a  gay  chintz  comfortable,  and  fur- 
nished with  pillows  and  everything  to  make  it 
as  nice  as  a  bed. 

As  soon  as  it  grew  dark  on  Christmas  eve 
and  Kristy  had  taken  her  supper,  the  company 
began  to  arrive,  and  two  uncles  came  up  to 
Kristy's  room  to  carry  down  the  "  Queen  of 
the  Evening,"  as  they  called  her. 

She  was  already  dressed  in  a  soft  new 
double-wrapper  of  light  blue  merino  which 
Mamma  had  made  for  her,  and  Uncle  John 
brought  her  a  lovely  bouquet  of  rosebuds 
that  had  come  in  a  box  from  the  city,  and 
Uncle  Will  put  on  her  head  a  delicate  wreath 
of  fresh  violets  from  the  same  box.  Then  they 
crossed  hands  and  "  made  a  chair,"  which  they 
gravely  and  with  great  ceremony  offered  to 
the  "  Queen  "  to  ride  down  on. 

Kristy  was  delighted ;  this  was  somebody's 
surprise  to  her.  So  she  laughingly  seated  her- 


HOW  IT   HAPPENED  5 

self  on  the  four  crossed  hands,  put  one  arm 
around  each  dear  uncle's  neck,  and  away  they 
went  down  the  stairs. 

The  kitchen  looked  charming,  and  no  one 
regretted  the  stately  parlor  left  alone  in  the 
cold.  The  guests  were  assembled  and  already 
seated  as  Mamma  had  arranged,  in  a  large 
half-circle  around  the  fire,  Grandma  in  her 
usual  rocking-chair  at  one  end,  and  Kristy 
on  her  throne  at  the  other. 

"  Now,  Mamma,"  said  Kristy,  after  greet- 
ings were  over,  "  will  you  please  tell  the  sur- 
prise?" 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen,"  said  Mamma, 
standing  by  Kristy's  chair,  "  you  know  this 
is  to  be  a  surprise  party,  differing  from  the 
common  kind  because  you  —  the  guests  —  are 
to  be  surprised  instead  of  your  young  hostess 
here.  Not  to  keep  you  in  suspense  I  will  an- 
nounce that  the  ruling  love  of  the  '  Queen  of 
the  Evening '  is  stories ;  and  she  requests  — 
nay,  demands  —  of  every  one  present  that  he 
or  she  shall  each  in  turn  tell  her  a  story." 

A  chorus  of   "  Oh's "  in  tones  of  dismay 


6  KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

came  from  the  circle,  followed  by  such  remarks 
as  "  That 's  too  bad  of  the  little  witch  !  "  and 
"  I  never  could  tell  a  story  in  my  life ! " 
But  Mamma  rapped  on  the  fire-dogs  for 
silence  and  spoke  again. 

"  I  hear  murmurs ;  let  me  explain  ;  the  terms 
are  not  hard.  Each  one  shall  tell  of  the  oddest, 
most  miserable  or  most  agreeable  Christmas  he 
ever  knew  about.  I  'm  sure  every  one  of  you 
can  remember  some  story,  long  or  short,  con- 
nected with  that  pleasant  time,  and  as  good 
1  subjects '  I  'm  sure  you  will  be  glad  to  gratify 
our  little  story-lover." 

That  silenced  every  one,  for  all  were  fond 
of  Kristy  and  glad  to  make  her  Christmas  as 
bright  as  possible. 

Grandma  spoke  next.  "  I  think  that 's  a 
very  cunning  plan  on  the  part  of  my  grand- 
daughter, and  while  you  are  all  collecting 
your  wits,  and  brushing  up  your  memories  of 
old  times,  I  '11  tell  the  first  story  myself.  As 
it  is  about  myself,  I  have  no  trouble  in  recall- 
ing  it." 

"  That 's   lovely   of  you,   Grandma,"   said 


HOW   IT   HAPPENED 


Kristy  warmly.  Grandma  smiled  across  the 
fireplace,  and  while  Uncle  Will  stirred  up  the 
fire  to  make  a  brighter  blaze,  she  brought  her 
knitting  out  of  her  pocket  and  began. 


CHAPTER  II 

CHRISTMAS  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

IT  was  all  my  own  fault,  the  way  we  spent 
our  Christmas.  I  '11  say  that  to  begin  with.  I 
was  a  willful  girl  in  those  days,  and  well  was  I 
punished  for  insisting  upon  having  my  own 
way,  that  strange  Christmas  day  so  long  ago. 

We  were  all  going  to  my  grandmother's 
to  a  family  gathering,  and  I  teased  my  father 
to  take  us  in  the  big  sleigh.  The  ride  was 
only  forty  miles,  and  I  thought  it  would  be 
fine  and  grand  to  show  off  our  stylish  city 
vehicle,  with  prancing  horses  and  plenty  of 
bells. 

Yes,  I  '11  confess  the  whole.  I  'm  afraid  I 
was  mean  enough  to  think  of  the  sensation  we 
should  make  in  the  little  village,  and  of  how 
our  country  cousins  would  stare. 

Well,  after  some  demurring,  father  and 
mother  consented  and  everything  was  ar- 


CHRISTMAS   ON  THE  PRAIRIE  9 

ranged.  A  big  square  basket  of  good  things 
—  which  we  always  carried  when  we  all  went 
together  to  grandmother's  —  was  packed  and 
fitted  under  the  back  seat  in  a  sort  of  box ; 
Willie's  and  my  presents  to  our  cousins,  as 
well  as  mother's  ;  mine  carefully  stowed  away 
in  a  safe  corner,  and  everything  was  ready  to 
start  the  night  before  we  were  to  go. 

On  that  morning,  however,  the  sky  was 
cloudy  and  it  looked  like  snow.  Father  came  in 
and  said  he  believed  we  had  better  go  by  rail 
after  all ;  we  could  telegraph  Uncle  James  to 
meet  us  at  the  station,  for  if  it  should  snow 
we  might  have  trouble  with  a  sleigh. 

Mother  agreed  that  it  would  be  best ;  but 
I  took  it  upon  myself  to  be  so  disappointed, 
and  made  such  a  commotion,  that  at  last,  in 
order  that  I  might  have  a  pleasant  Christmas, 
they  consented  —  as  it  was  not  certain  that  it 
would  snow  after  all  —  to  gratify  me. 

Great  was  my  pride  and  delight  when  we 
drove  off;  horses  prancing  and  bells  jingling. 
Mother  and  I  packed  into  the  back  seat,  with 
plenty  of  cloaks  and  wraps  and  fur  robes  to 


10          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

keep  us  warm,  with  hot  bricks  for  our  feet, 
and  everything  snug  and  nice ;  and  father  and 
Willie  in  front,  just  as  comfortable ;  father 
driving,  in  his  warm  fur  gloves. 

The  first  ten  miles  were  very  pleasant,  but 
as  we  went  on  snow  began  to  come  down  in 
earnest.  I  noticed  that  father  grew  silent  and 
hurried  the  horses,  and  mother  looked  anx- 
iously at  the  fast  falling  flakes. 

After  an  hour  or  so,  it  settled  into  a  steady, 
thick  storm.  The  track  was  soon  covered  and 
we  could  not  hear  our  horses'  feet ;  in  fact, 
after  a  while  we  could  not  see  the  horses'  ears, 
much  less  the  road. 

Mother  grew  more  worried,  but  father  spoke 
cheerfully  and  said  the  horses  would  follow 
the  track,  and  he  let  them  take  their  own 
way.  The  horses  hurried  on,  and  we  should 
have  been  at  grandmother's.  The  short  day 
was  nearly  over,  it  began  to  grow  dark,  and 
now  even  I  was  no  longer  held  up  by  my 
pride.  I  began  to  be  dreadfully  frightened, 
especially  as  the  road  was  so  uneven,  and  we 
constantly  ran  against  things  and  over  things 


CHRISTMAS   ON  THE  PRAIRIE         11 

that  nearly  upset  us,  so  that  we  knew  we  were 
out  of  the  road  and  of  course  lost. 

Perhaps  you  don't  know  what  that  word 
means  to  people  traveling  on  the  wide  west- 
ern prairie,  where  the  road  is  on  a  level  with 
the  rest  of  the  country,  and  one  can  go  for 
miles  and  not  see  a  house  or  even  a  fence. 
The  very  thought  struck  terror  to  all  of  us. 
Lost  on  the  terrible  prairies,  with  snow  so 
thick  we  could  not  see  ! 

I  began  to  cry,  but  mother  consoled  me  by 
reminding  me  that  at  most  we  should  not 
starve,  for  we  could  eat  the  contents  of  the 
Christmas  basket,  and  the  storm  could  not 
last  forever.  But  I  felt  the  pangs  of  remorse, 
and  remembered  that  it  was  I  alone  who  had 
brought  the  family  into  this  disagreeable  if 
not  dangerous  position. 

By  this  time  it  was  dark,  and  we  were  steal- 
ing cautiously  along,  the  horses  almost  tired 
out  dragging  the  heavy  load  through  unbroken 
snow.  We  kept  watch  on  all  sides  for  a  light 
—  any  light  that  would  lead  us  to  shelter.  It 
was  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  before  we 


12          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

caught  sight  of  a  faint  gleam  on  the  right, 
and  father  at  once  turned  the  horses  towards 
it.  A  few  minutes'  floundering  and  plunging 
of  the  poor  beasts  through  drifts  almost  up  to 
their  necks  brought  us  near  that  welcome 
light.  There  seemed  to  be  a  house  of  some 
sort,  —  very  small,  —  and  father  jumped  out 
and  stumbled  about  till  he  found  a  door,  on 
which  he  knocked. 

In  a  moment  it  opened  and  a  frightened- 
looking  face  appeared,  holding  a  candle  above 
the  head.  It  was  a  poor-looking  woman's  face, 
but  she  seemed  like  an  angel  to  us.  Father 
told  her  our  trouble,  and  asked  her  to  let  us 
come  in  and  stay  all  night. 

She  said  she  could  not  turn  away  a  dog  on 
such  a  night  and  to  what  she  had  we  were  wel- 
come, but  she  had  little  to  offer  us,  and  she 
feared  we  would  not  be  very  comfortable. 

"  At  least,"  said  mother,  "  you  have  fire 
and  a  roof  over  you,  and  we  shall  be  glad  of 
them  to-night." 

Well,  of  course  we  hurried  out,  and  thank- 
ful enough  I  was  to  leave  the  sleigh  I  had 


CHRISTMAS   ON  THE  PRAIRIE         13 

entered  with  such  pride.  The  poor  tired  horses 
had  to  go  into  a  sort  of  shed  where  the  woman 
kept  her  wood,  and  for  a  long  time  father  was 
busy  making  them  as  comfortable  as  he  could, 
rubbing  them  down  and  putting  on  their  blan- 
kets, while  we  took  off  our  wraps  and  looked 
around  the  one  room  of  the  log  cottage  in  which 
we  were  to  pass  the  night,  and  —  though  we 
did  n't  suspect  it  then  —  the  next  day  as  well. 

The  family  consisted  of  a  mother  and  two 
children,  a  boy  and  girl,  about  Willie's  and 
my  age.  They  were  evidently  very  poor,  for 
there  was  hardly  anything  in  the  house,  except 
a  bed  with  little  skimpy  pillows,  a  table,  and 
a  few  hard  chairs.  The  fire  was  in  a  big  fire- 
place, and  the  one  candle  stood  on  the  shelf 
above  it.  A  cupboard  on  one  side  held  a  few 
dishes,  and  that  was  about  all. 

And  this  was  Christmas  eve !  and  at  my 
grandmother's  now  the  aunts  and  uncles  and 
cousins  were  having  a  merry  time,  a  delicious 
supper,  which  made  my  mouth  water  to  think 
of,  so  hungry  was  I,  a  roaring  big  fire,  plenty 
of  lights,  and  lots  of  fun. 


14          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"And  but  for  you,  willful  girl,"  something 
within  me  kept  suggesting,  "  but  for  you,  you 
would  all  be  in  the  midst  of  it  at  this  moment." 

Nobody  spoke  of  that,  however. 

Father  asked  if  he  could  get  anything  to 
feed  the  horses,  and  the  woman  brought  out 
a  basket  of  corn.  So  Billy  and  Jack  had  to 
do  without  their  usual  oats,  and  eat  corn  out 
of  a  pail.  They  did  n't  seem  to  mind,  but 
crunched  away  as  though  it  were  sugar-plums. 

It  was  different  with  us.  We  were  half- 
starved,  and  when  we  asked  about  something  to 
eat  we  found  that  the  terrible  little  house  had 
nothing  but  corn-meal  and  a  little  salt  pork. 

How  dreadful !  I  could  not  bear  corn-meal, 
and  I  loathed  pork,  but  mother  asked  her 
cheerfully  to  cook  a  supper  for  us.  So  she 
bustled  about  and  cut  some  very  thin  slices 
and  broiled  them  over  the  coals,  and  mixed  up 
some  of  the  meal  with  water  and  things,  and 
brushed  clean  a  place  on  the  hearth  and  baked 
it  there  on  the  hot  stones,  and  by  that  time 
I  was  so  ravenous  I  could  eat  shoestrings,  I 
thought.  So  I  did  make  a  hearty  supper  on 


CHRISTMAS   ON  THE  PRAIRIE         15 

corn  bread.  Father  ate,  too,  and  so  did  Willie, 
but  I  noticed  that  mother  only  nibbled  at 
hers. 

Then  we  began  to  think  of  sleeping.  The 
woman  (Mrs.  Burns  was  her  name)  insisted 
upon  giving  mother  and  me  her  own  bed,  but 
I  saw  a  queer  look  go  over  mother's  face  as  she 
glanced  at  it,  and  she  utterly  refused.  She 
said  we  had  carriage  robes  and  cushions  and 
shawls,  and  could  make  ourselves  very  com- 
fortable on  the  floor  before  the  fire.  So  father 
and  Willie  brought  the  things  in,  and  mother 
spread  up  two  beds  side  by  side,  cushions  and 
robes  on  the  floor,  and  shawls  for  covering. 

Such  a  strange  night  as  that  was !  I  lay 
awake  a  long  time,  watching  the  dancing 
shadows  which  the  fire  threw  on  the  rafters  of 
the  little  house,  holding  fast  to  mother's  hand 
all  the  while,  for  I  was  half-scared  out  of  my 
wits  to  be  on  the  floor.  I  thought  of  rats  and 
mice  and  many  horrible  things  I  had  heard 
of,  and  I  was  sure  I  should  not  sleep  a  wink, 
especially  as  that  troublesome  monitor  inside 
kept  suggesting  to  me  that  it  was  my  own 


16          KRISTY'S   QUEER   CHRISTMAS 

doing,  my  own  willfulness  that  had  brought 
this  upon  the  whole  family. 

I  tried  to  put  away  the  thought  —  to  think 
of  something  else ;  to  make  excuses  for  my- 
self; but  somehow  everything  looked  different 
here,  and  I  could  not  bring  back  my  own  sat- 
isfaction with  myself.  Moreover,  it  seemed  as 
if  that  little  ray  of  light,  that  was  showing  me 
my  real  self,  was  determined  to  reveal  more 
things.  I  remembered  that  I  had  always  wanted 
to  have  my  own  way,  and  the  dreadful  moni- 
tor reminded  me  that  I  did  n't  much  care  if  I 
did  put  other  people  out  of  their  way,  or  oblige 
them  to  do  what  they  did  n't  like,  to  please  me, 
and  —  and  —  I  could  n't  blink  the  fact  that  I 
was  apt  to  be  very  ugly  and  cross  when  I  had 
to  give  up  my  own  plans ;  and  at  last  came  the 
word  which  all  this  meant :  it  was  selfishness. 

It  seemed  as  if  that  word  suddenly  burst  on 
me,  and  I  saw  it  as  in  letters  of  fire.  It  was  a 
disagreeable  word.  I  hated  selfish  people,  and 
I  had  often  given  up  friendship  for  a  girl  be- 
cause of  this  ugly  trait ;  and  was  it  my  own, 
too? 


CHRISTMAS  ON  THE  PRAIRIE          17 

I  was  startled,  but  I  could  not  get  away 
from  that  stern  monitor  within,  which  seemed 
to  have  taken  this  dismal  occasion  to  show  me 
my  true  self. 

Hours  I  lay  awake  thinking,  about  myself 
to  be  sure,  but  not  in  a  cheering  way.  Even 
now,  I  remember  how,  in  this  wretched  plight, 
brought  on  by  my  own  selfishness,  I  had 
not  thought  of  any  one  else ;  nothing  of  my 
mother's  discomfort,  unable  to  sleep  on  the 
floor,  unable  to  eat  coarse  food,  anxious  about 
grandmother's  anxiety  about  us ;  nothing  of 
father's  cares,  worry  about  our  comfort,  about 
his  horses,  about  how  we  could  get  on  to- 
morrow ;  nothing  about  Willie,  the  gay  even- 
ing he  had  expected,  the  evident  disappoint- 
ment ;  nothing  of  the  family  we  were  putting 
to  so  great  inconvenience ;  nothing  of  the 
worry  of  grandmother  and  all  our  relatives 
at  our  absence.  Nothing  —  nothing  —  with 
shame  I  confess  it  —  nothing  but  the  sole,  in- 
dividual disappointment  of  one  small,  selfish 
girl. 

I  saw  myself,  and  I  didn't  like  the  picture, 


18          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

and  with  tears  of  shame  I  said  to  myself :  "  I  '11 
begin  to  do  better  to-morrow.  I  will !  I  will !  " 
I  slept  at  last,  and  awoke  full  of  my  good 
resolve.  The  sun  was  not  shining ;  that  I  no- 
ticed the  first  thing,  and  next  I  saw  the  flakes 
begin  to  fall.  Father  went  out  to  look  at  the 
weather,  and  reported  —  alas  for  our  hopes ! 
—  a  steady  fall  of  snow,  fences  all  covered, 
no  road  to  be  seen,  not  a  chance  of  our  getting 
away  till  the  people  got  out  and  broke  the 
roads  with  heavy  teams,  —  and  it  was  Christ- 
mas morning !  I  saw  mother's  quick  clasp  of 
the  hands,  and  heard  her  murmur,  "  Oh !  if  I 
could  only  let  her  know  where  we  are !  "  and 
I  knew  she  was  thinking  of  grandmother's 
anxiety.  I  saw  father's  face  as  he  came  in 
from  attending  the  horses,  and  asked  Mrs. 
Burns  if  she  had  any  more  corn,  and  I  was 
just  resigning  myself  to  a  great  burst  of  tears, 
when  I  remembered  the  thoughts  of  last  night. 
"  Now,  here  is  a  good  chance  to  begin  to  think 
of  some  one  else,"  said  the  monitor.  There 
was  no  comfort  in  thinking  of  any  of  us,  so  I 
turned  to  the  family  of  the  log  house. 


CHRISTMAS   ON  THE   PRAIRIE         19 

The  mother  looked  thin  and  ill,  and  was 
hurrying  about  to  get  breakfast,  which  I  could 
see  was  a  repetition  of  the  supper  of  last  night. 
I  turned  to  the  girl.  Her  name  was  Elsie,  and 
she  was  near  my  own  age.  I  went  over  to 
where  she  stood  near  the  small  window,  in 
awe  of  her  guests. 

When  I  reached  her  I  did  n't  know  what 
to  say,  for  with  the  best  of  intentions  I  was 
new  at  the  business.  At  last  I  began  timidly : 

"Elsie,  what  do  you  do  here  on  Christ- 
mas?" 

"I  d'  know  what  you  mean,"  said  Elsie 
shyly.  "  What  is  Christmas  ?  " 

"  You  don't  know  that !  "  I  cried  in  amaze- 
ment. "  I  thought  everybody  in  the  world 
knew  about  Christmas  !  Why,  why  —  "I 
stopped.  What  could  I  say?  How  could  I 
begin  ?  "  Mother,"  as  a  thought  struck  me, 
"  please  tell  Elsie  what  Christmas  is ;  she 
does  n't  know." 

Mother  turned.  "Well,  dear,  come  here 
and  let  me  tell  you,  though  my  daughter  is  so 
astonished  that  I  must  first  tell  her  that  there 


20          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

are  hundreds  of  thousands  of  children  who 
never  heard  of  Christmas." 

Then  calling  the  boy  John,  who  was  stand- 
ing stupidly  by  the  door  of  the  shed,  as  though 
about  to  run  away,  mother  told  them  the  whole 
story :  why  we  keep  it,  and  what  we  do  to 
celebrate  it.  John  got  interested  and  forgot 
to  shut  his  mouth,  and  Elsie's  eyes  got  bigger 
and  bigger  and  brighter  and  brighter;  and 
when  mother  stopped,  she  drew  a  long  breath 
and  said  :  "  Oh,  how  beautiful !  how  I  should 
like  to  see  Christmas !  But  I  don't  suppose  I 
ever  shall  out  here  on  the  prairie,"  she  added 
in  a  moment,  the  light  fading  out  of  her  face. 

At  that  instant  a  thought  came  like  a  flash 
to  me  —  I  believe  it  came  from  the  same 
monitor  which  had  shown  me  myself  in  the 
night ;  anyway,  it  came  the  same  way,  and  I 
must  say  I  did  n't  like  it  a  bit.  I  just  hated 
it.  What  do  you  suppose  it  was  ? 

"  You  have  things  enough  packed  into  the 
sleigh  to  make  this  poor  family  perfectly  happy 
for  a  long  time ;  things  intended  for  people 
who  already  have  more  than  they  need.  Pre- 


CHRISTMAS   ON  THE  PRAIRIE         21 

sents  you  have  prepared  for  your  girl  cousins 
will  do  nicely  for  Elsie,  those  for  the  boys 
will  just  suit  John.  The  mittens  you  knit 
for  grandmother's  old  servant  will  keep  Mrs. 
Burns's  hands  warm,  and  the  New  Testament 
in  big  print,  that  you  bought  with  your  own 
money  for  grandmother,  will  be  just  the  thing 
for  this  dreary  little  house  in  long  winter 
evenings.  Then,  there  is  the  basket ;  why 
carry  lots  of  nice  things  to  eat  into  a  house 
already  too  full,  when  these  poor  souls  have 
nothing  • —  yes,  truly  nothing  —  meal  and 
pork." 

I  took  this  new  suggestion  and  went  to  the 
window  to  fight  it  out  with  myself.  Selfish- 
ness said,  "  What  are  these  to  you  ?  and  how 
your  cousins  will  feel ! "  But,  on  the  other 
hand  — 

Well,  in  a  few  minutes  I  went  to  mother 
and  whispered  my  thought.  Her  face  bright- 
ened. 

"  I  am  so  glad  you  thought  of  it,  my  daugh- 
ter. It  had  occurred  to  me,  but  I  dreaded  to 
propose  it,  lest  you  should  be  disappointed. 


22          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

Now  we  '11  do  it,  and  our  Christmas  will  not 
be  so  very  gloomy  after  all,  I  'm  sure." 

Once  settled,  we  entered  into  the  plan  with 
enthusiasm,  we  even  —  if  you  '11  believe  me  — 
planned  a  Christmas  tree,  for  father  (whom,  of 
course,  we  told  at  once)  said  we  were  close  on 
the  edge  of  an  evergreen  wood.  He  took  John 
and  Willie,  who  was  delighted  with  the  plan, 
borrowed  Mrs.  Burns's  axe,  and  waded  through, 
I  don't  know  how  deep  snow  to  the  grove. 
Very  soon  he  cut  down  a  nice  tree,  and  the 
two  boys  dragged  it  in,  prancing  through  the 
snow  like  a  pair  of  horses,  and  scattering  it 
on  every  side.  I  even  heard  a  laugh  from 
John,  at  the  door. 

The  tree  was  quickly  set  up,  and  after  we 
had  eaten  breakfast  we  went  to  work  on  it. 
Mrs.  Burns  was  interested  :  said  she  'd  heard 
of  those  things,  but  never  saw  one ;  and  the 
children  were  just  wild ;  I  never  saw  folks  so 
delighted. 

There  was  n't  much  to  trim  it  with ;  only, 
luckily,  one  of  the  things  in  the  sleigh  was  a 
great  big  box  of  bon-bons.  They  are  pretty 


CHRISTMAS   ON  THE  PRAIRIE         23 

to  look  at,  you  know,  and  we  used  them  *to 
decorate  our  tree.  Do  you  suppose  a  Christ- 
mas tree  was  ever  before  trimmed  with  bon- 
bons, hearts,  and  Jacob's  ladders,  and  rings 
of  dancers  (you  know  how  to  cut  them),  and 
all  sorts  of  droll  figures  which  mother  cut  out 
of  paper,  white  and  pink,  which  came  around 
the  packages? 

You  'd  hardly  believe  it,  but  that  tree  looked 
really  pretty  when  it  came  dark,  and  the  fire- 
light fell  on  it.  But  before  that  time  we  had 
our  Christmas  dinner.  The  table  was  set  out 
and  covered  with  newspapers  that  we  had 
(Mrs.  Burns  had  n't  even  a  tablecloth)  and 
then  hidden  with  sprigs  of  evergreen  that 
came  off  in  trimming  the  tree.  The  things 
out  of  the  basket  made  a  funny  dinner,  but 
was  n't  it  good !  A  splendid  roast  turkey, 
a  big  chicken  pie,  a  lovely  frosted  cake,  a 
plum  pudding,  and  beautiful  jelly.  Not  a  bit 
of  bread  or  potato,  not  a  vegetable  nor  a  piece 
of  butter.  Mrs.  Burns  baked  some  corn  bread, 
and  it  looked  very  queer  beside  the  other 
things.  I  tell  you  the  dinner  was  a  wonder  in 


24          KRISTY'S   QUEER   CHRISTMAS 

that  log  house.  The  children  were  so  surprised 
and  happy  they  could  hardly  eat,  and  I  hope 
they  enjoyed  what  was  left  after  we  went 
away,  for  it  was  not  half  eaten. 

Then  after  dinner  was  cleared  away,  father 
and  Willie  brought  in  the  box  which  held  our 
presents.  Mother's  were  really  useful.  She 
had  a  nice  merino  dress  which  she  was  tak- 
ing to  grandmother's  Netty,  an  old  servant 
who  lived  there  when  mother  was  a  little  girl. 
It  was  all  made,  and  just  fitted  Mrs.  Burns. 
Father  had  a  shawl  for  her,  too.  I  gave  the 
mittens  I  had  knit  to  Johnnie,  and  the  Testa- 
ment to  Mrs.  Burns,  and  she  was  delighted 
with  it.  I  gave  Elsie  a  book  I  had  for  Cousin 
Addie,  and  mother  gave  her  a  cunning  little 
work-box  with  all  the  sewing  things  in  it. 
Willie  gave  Johnnie  a  little  set  of  tools  he 
was  carrying  to  Cousin  Harry,  and  I  never 
saw  a  boy  so  pleased. 

Then  we  had  some  boxes  of  games,  and  we 
showed  them  how  to  play  afterwards. 

Everything  that  was  not  too  big  was  hung 
on  the  tree,  and  those  two  children  just  stood 


CHRISTMAS  ON  THE  PRAIRIE         25 

and  stared.  They  could  n't  take  their  eyes 
off,  and  Elsie  every  few  minutes  drew  a  long 
breath,  as  if  she  could  not  contain  herself  for 


I  never  enjoyed  a  tree  so  much  in  my  life, 
those  two  children  were  so  perfectly  over- 
whelmed with  happiness. 

Then  we  sat  by  the  fire  and  told  stories  and 
taught  them  the  games,  and  ate  some  of  the 
bon-bons  from  the  tree,  though  we  left  most 
of  them  till  we  should  be  gone,  and  we  gave 
them  the  bon-bon  boxes,  which  they  thought 
were  too  fine  to  use,  and  the  evening  fairly 
flew.  Before  we  thought  of  it,  it  was  time  to 
go  to  bed,  and  I  went  right  to  sleep  that 
night. 

The  next  morning  the  sun  was  shining,  and 
before  long  came  a  great  noise,  shouting  and 
yelling,  and  we  saw  lots  of  country  people 
with  oxen  and  heavy  sleds  breaking  the  road. 
Father  went  out  to  see  them,  and  he  found  that 
we  were  about  three  miles  from  grandmother's, 
but  off  the  regular  road.  Then  we  packed 
into  the  sleigh  again  and  went  off,  and  mother 


26          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

left  Elsie  my  old  cloak  and  Johnnie  Willie's 
ulster,  that  he  used  only  for  country  drives  — 
we  had  so  many  extra  wraps  for  our  long  ride. 
Father  gave  Mrs.  Burns  some  money,  too,  and 
when  we  drove  off  she  stood  by  the  door 
crying  (if  you  '11  believe  me),  while  Elsie  and 
Johnnie  shouted  "  Good-by,"  and  Willie  and  I 
waved  our  handkerchiefs  and  called  back. 

Before  noon  we  got  to  grandmother's  and 
found  them  very  much  alarmed  about  us. 
Mother  told  our  story  and  promised  to  send 
a  fresh  Christmas  box  from  home,  but  no- 
body would  hear  of  it.  Everybody  seemed 
delighted  that  we  had  given  away  their  pre- 
sents, and  brought  heaps  of  things  that  Santa 
Glaus  had  left  for  us. 

It  may  seem  strange,  but  I  believe  that 
queer  Christmas  in  the  little  log  house  was  the 
very  happiest  I  ever  spent,  and  Willie  and 
mother  always  said  so,  too. 

"  And  that 's  why  you  've  been  so  nice  and 
generous  ever  since ! "  cried  Kristy  as  the 
story  ended. 


CHRISTMAS  ON  THE  PRAIRIE          27 

Everybody  laughed,  and  Grandma  even 
blushed  a  little,  but  Kristy  added  indignantly, 
"  You  need  n't  laugh !  You  all  know  it 's 
true  ! " 

"So  we  do,  little  girl,"  said  Uncle  Will 
warmly ;  "  the  most  generous,  the  nicest, 
the  —  " 

"  There,  there ! "  interrupted  Grandma, 
"  that  '11  do.  It 's  your  turn  now,  Mr.  Tom." 

Now  Uncle  Tom  pretended  to  be  greatly 
distressed  because  he  could  not  tell  half  so 
good  a  story,  and  Kristy  laughed  at  him  and 
told  him  he  need  n't  pretend,  for  everybody 
knew  he  could  make  up  stories  so  good  that 
they  were  printed  in  the  newspapers. 

This  made  Uncle  Tom  blush,  and  he 
said : 

"  Very  well  then,  Miss  Queeny  !  If  I  must 
tell  a  story,  I  shall  do  it  in  newspaper  style. 
For  I  can't  talk  stories ;  I  can  only  write 
them." 

"  Do  it  any  way  you  please,"  said  Kristy, 
"  only  begin  !  Begin  !  Sh  —  !  Listen,  every- 
body." 


28          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"Well,"  said  Uncle  Tom,  slowly  drawing 
a  fresh  newspaper  from  his  pocket,  "  the 
queerest  Christmas  I  ever  heard  of  was  in  a 
negro  cabin  out  in  the  woods  of  Ohio,  and  I  '11 
read  you  that." 

"  Oh  !  oh  !  "  came  in  a  chorus  from  the  lis- 
teners. "  You  must  tell  your  story  !  " 

"  This  is  my  story,"  Uncle  Tom  admitted  at 
last,  "  and  it 's  new,  and  nobody  here  has  seen 
it,"  and  he  turned  to  Kristy. 

"Yes,  read  it,  Uncle  Tom,"  she  said.  "I 
know  it  '11  be  nice." 

Uncle  Tom  turned  his  back  to  the  fire  so 
that  he  could  see  to  read,  and  then  began. 


CHAPTER  III 

A   DROLL  SANTA  CLAUS 

"  BERTIE,"  whispered  seven-year-old  Lily  mys- 
teriously, "  I  know  where  to  find  Santa  Glaus. 
Barbara  told  me." 

"  Where  ?  "  cried  Bertie,  dropping  the  block 
he  was  about  adding  to  his  house. 

"  Out  on  the  hill,"  Lily  went  on  eagerly. 
"  Barbara  says  that  Christmas  eve  the  Christ 
Child  comes  down  on  the  hill,  with  oh !  lots 
and  lots  of  presents,  and  picks  them  over  and 
gives  them  to  Santa  Glaus  to  take  to  the 
children." 

"What  hill?"  asked  Bertie,  jumping  up 
from  the  floor. 

"  The  one  the  moon  comes  over,  Barbara 
says,"  answered  Lily.  "  And  I  guess  it 's  that 
one,"  —  pointing  to  the  peak  of  a  mountain 
miles  and  miles  away.  "  Christmas  eve  's  this 
very  night,"  she  went  on  earnestly.  "  Let 's 


30  KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

you  and  I  go  up  there  and  see  him  and  pick 
out  our  presents." 

"  Well,"  said  Bertie,  always  ready  to  do 
what  Lily  suggested. 

"  We  must  n't  let  Barbara  see  us,  or  she 
won't  let  us  go,"  said  Lily.  "  But  I  guess 
she  '11  be  glad  when  we  come  back  with  lots 
of  things." 

"I'll  bring  her  a  horse,"  said  Bertie,  "'at 
she  can  ride." 

"  And  I  '11  bring  her  a  be-au-ti-f  ul  long  dress 
that'll  drag  on  the  ground,"  said  Lily,  start- 
ing down-stairs.  Bertie  followed.  Barbara  had 
gone  to  the  kitchen  for  a  few  moments ; 
Mamma  was  busy  in  the  parlor  with  company  ; 
and  nobody  saw  the  two  children  creep  down- 
stairs, open  the  front  door,  and  slip  out. 

"  I  wonder  which  way  it  is  !  "  said  Lily, 
when  they  had  reached  the  walk.  "  Oh !  I 
guess  that  way,  'cause  there  's  the  hill,"  and 
she  turned  the  way  that  led  from  the  village 
toward  the  woods. 

The  sun  was  just  down,  and  away  the  eager 
children  tramped,  too  much  excited  to  feel 


A  DROLL  SANTA  GLAUS  31 

cold,  though  they  had  nothing  over  them,  and 
too  much  afraid  of  being  overtaken  by  the 
nurse  to  linger.  When  they  reached  the  woods 
it  looked  rather  dark,  and  Bertie  was  afraid 
to  go  in.  But  Lily  said  they  'd  soon  be  there, 
she  guessed ;  and  the  Christ  Child  would  take 
care  of  them,  'cause  he  loved  little  children. 

So  hand  in  hand  they  entered  the  dreary 
wood.  It  looked  much  darker  inside,  and,  in 
fact,  the  short  winter  day  was  about  over  and 
night  was  falling  fast.  Anxiously  the  two 
little  wanderers  hurried  along,  not  saying 
much,  now  running  when  the  ground  was 
smooth,  and  stumbling  along  over  roots  and 
sticks  when  it  was  rough. 

"  I  'm  cold,  'n  I  want  my  Mamma,"  burst 
out  Bertie  at  last. 

"  So  am  I  cold,"  said  Lily,  "  and  I  guess 
we  must  be  most  there ;  and  then  think  how 
nice  it '11  be!" 

"  Will  it  be  warm  ? "  asked  the  anxious 
little  voice. 

"  Oh  !  of  course,  and  light,"  said  Lily  cheer- 
fully, "  and  plenty  of  nice  things  to  eat." 


32  KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"  I  want  something  now,"  wailed  Bertie,  the 
tears  rolling  down  his  face. 

"  Well,  don't  cry,"  said  Lily,  in  a  soothing, 
motherly  way.  "  We  '11  soon  be  there  now." 
And  on  they  trudged,  through  swamps  half  up 
to  their  knees,  falling  over  logs,  scratching 
their  faces  on  bushes,  hungry,  cold,  wet,  and 
at  last  frightened  when  the  snow  began  to 
come  down  thick  and  fast. 

"  I  want  to  go  home,"  sobbed  Bertie. 

"Well,"  said  Lily,  "we'll  go,"  and  they 
turned  around  and  began  to  retrace  their 
steps.  But  alas  !  they  had  not  come  straight, 
and  they  only  went  farther  and  farther  from 
home. 

The  prospect  of  going  home  quieted  Bertie 
for  a  while  ;  but  when  some  time  had  gone  by, 
and  it  was  almost  totally  dark,  and  they  could 
see  nothing,  and  ran  against  trees  and  hurt 
themselves,  even  Lily's  courage  began  to  fail, 
and  the  tears  ran  down  her  face,  though  she 
tried  to  choke  them  back.  But  still  they  stum- 
bled on. 

"  Don't  cry,  Bertie,"  the  brave  little  crea- 


A  DROLL  SANTA  CLAUS  33 

ture  said  after  a  while.  "  If  we  die  out  here 
in  the  woods,  maybe  the  robin  redbreasts  '11 
come  and  cover  us  up  with  leaves,  as  they  did 
the  children  in  the  woods  in  my  book." 

"  I  don't  want  to  be  covered  up  with  leaves," 
sobbed  Bertie,  who  could  n't  see  any  consola- 
tion in  that. 

Just  at  that  moment  they  came  out  from  be- 
hind a  rock,  and  they  saw  a  light.  Lily  was 
ablaze  in  a  minute. 

"  There  it  is  !  There  they  are !  "  she  cried. 
"  Look,  Bertie  !  That  must  be  the  place  !  " 
And  they  hurried  on,  losing  the  light  now  and 
then,  as  a  tree  came  in  the  way,  and  finding  it 
again  in  a  minute. 

When  they  drew  near  the  light  they  saw 
that  it  came  from  a  window,  and  when  they 
got  close  to  it  there  was  a  small  house  with 
a  door  beside  the  window.  Lily  knocked. 
In  a  moment  it  was  opened  by  a  negro,  — 
old  and  bent  and  white-haired,  —  who  gazed 
at  the  two  weary  children  as  though  they 
were  ghosts. 

"  Please,  sir,  are  you  Santa  Glaus  ?  "  asked 


34  KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

Lily,  with  trembling  lips  and  tears  on  her 
cheeks. 

"  Santa  Glaus !  "  said  the  bewildered  negro. 
"  Bless  yo'  heart,  who  's  that  ?  But  come  in 
out  o'  the  storm.  Yo'  must  be  nigh  froze  to 
death.  Who 's  come  with  yo'  ?  "  and  he  peered 
out  into  the  darkness. 

"  No  one,"  said  Lily  timidly,  half  afraid  of 
his  looks,  yet  reassured  by  his  good-natured 
voice.  "We  came  alone,  to  see  Santa  Glaus. 
But  I  'm  afraid  we  missed  the  way." 

"  Come  alone,  this  yere  cold  night,  from  the 
village  ?  "  he  ejaculated  in  amazement.  "  Did 
yo'  Ma  know  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Lily,  casting  down  her  eyes. 
"We  did  n't  tell  her." 

"  Well,  come  in  by  the  fire,"  said  he,  draw- 
ing them  in  and  closing  the  door.  "  What  yo' 
s'pose  yer  Ma  '11  say  when  she  finds  yo'  done 
runned  away  ?  " 

Bertie  burst  into  loud  crying,  and  Lily 
sobbed  :  "  Oh  !  please  won't  you  show  us  the 
way  back  ?  I  did  n't  think  of  that." 

"Well,  well,  don't   cry,"  said  he.    "Yo' 


A   DROLL   SANTA  CLAUS  35 

must  get  warm  and  have  a  bite  to  eat,  and 
then  I'll  see  about  getting  on  yo'  home.  I 
ain't  so  young  as  I  was  onct,  and  it 's  no  fool 
of  a  tramp  through  these  yere  woods  after 
night,  I  kin  tell  ye." 

It  was  a  droll  little  place  that  the  children 
had  come  into.  The  whole  house  consisted 
of  one  room,  roughly  built,  evidently  by  old 
Philip  himself.  On  one  side  was  a  rude  lounge- 
frame,  holding  some  sort  of  a  coarse  bed  and  a 
blanket  or  two ;  on  the  other  a  table,  made  by 
turning  a  packing-box  on  one  end.  The  third 
side  was  given  up  to  the  rickety  old  stove,  the 
pipe  of  which  went  out  through  a  hole  in  the 
side  of  the  shanty,  and  a  rough  shelf  behind 
it,  on  which  were  a  plate  or  two,  as  many  cups, 
a  package  or  two  of  corn-meal,  tobacco,  and 
other  necessaries,  with  a  lighted  tallow  candle, 
stuck  into  a  hollowed-out  potato.  There  were 
no  chairs,  but  a  soap-box  by  the  stove  looked 
as  though  it  was  used  for  that  purpose.  A  saw 
and  sawbuck  in  the  corner  by  the  door  and 
an  old  coat  and  hat  hanging  up  completed  the 
furniture  of  the  dwelling. 


36  KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

But,  if  the  house  was  odd,  it  was  warm,  and 
the  two  half-frozen  children  eagerly  crowded 
up  to  the  stove. 

"  Pore  chillen  !  "  said  their  tender-hearted 
host.  "  It 's  a  miracle  yo'  did  n't  freeze  to 
death  out  in  them  woods." 

"  We  did  most,"  said  Lily,  with  quivering 
lip.  "  And  oh,  dear !  how  can  we  get  home 
again  ?  " 

"  Don't  you  fret  yo'r  heart,  my  little  lady," 
said  old  Philip  kindly.  "  I  see  about  that  'ar. 
'Pears  to  me  yo'd  'mazin'ly  like  a  hot  'tater, 
now,  would  n't  yo',  my  little  man?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Bertie,  who  was  more  than  half 
afraid  of  him. 

Philip  opened  the  door  of  his  stove,  raked 
away  the  ashes,  and  there  were  two  nice  pota- 
toes, haked  to  a  lovely  brown.  He  took  them 
out,  carefully  brushed  off  the  ashes,  laid  them 
on  the  table,  brought  out  a  cracked  teacup 
with  salt  in  it,  and  an  old  knife,  and  told  the 
children  to  come  up  and  eat. 

"  If  I  'd  a  know'd  I  was  gwine  to  have  com- 
pany to  tea,"  he  said,  laughing,  "  I  'd  a  got 


A   DROLL  SANTA  GLAUS  37 

up  a  supper  in  style.  But  eat  the  'taters  and 
I  '11  bake  yo'  a  oncommon  nice  hoecake.  Yo' 
like  hoecake?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Lily,  who  stood  irre- 
solute before  the  table,  not  knowing  just  how 
to  begin  such  a  meal.  "  How  do  you  eat  these? 
They  're  hot." 

"  Sure  'nuff,"  said  Philip.  "  I  done  forgot 
yo'  was  n't  used  to  my  sort  o'  eatin'.  I  jest  cut 
off  the  end,  drop  a  pinch  o'  salt  in,  and  dig 
out  the  inside." 

"  Oh  !  "  said  Lily,  hastening  to  follow  his 
directions  for  herself.  As  for  Bertie,  he  had 
already  half  eaten  his  potato  without  salt. 

Philip  now  brought  out  a  bowl  and  mixed 
up  some  corn-meal  in  it ;  then  brushing  off 
the  hot  griddle  of  his  stove,  he  poured  the 
mixture  on.  In  a  few  minutes  he  turned  it  over 
with  a  knife,  and  in  a  short  time  he  handed  it 
in  the  same  way  onto  a  plate  and  put  it  on  the 
table.  It  was  brown  and  smelt  good,  and  the 
hungry  children  eagerly  devoured  it,  while 
Philip  made  another. 

When  they  had  eaten  as  much  as  they  could, 


38  KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

and  drank  some  water  out  of  teacups,  Philip 
gave  Lily  a  seat  on  the  soap-box,  while  he 
turned  a  big  stick  of  wood  up  on  end  and  sat 
down  on  that  himself.  He  then  took  Bertie, 
who  had  got  over  his  fright,  onto  his  lap  and 
proceeded  to  take  off  the  soaked  shoes  and 
stockings  and  warm  the  little  cold  red  feet. 
Lily  meantime  did  the  same  for  hers,  which 
ached  with  the  cold. 

"  Now  teh1  me  how  yo'  corned  to  run  away," 
said  Philip,  when  they  were  more  comfortable. 

"  We  came  out  to  find  the  Christ  Child," 
said  Lily.  "  Barbara  says  he  comes  on  Christ- 
mas eve  down  on  a  hill  and  gives  the  presents  to 
Santa  Glaus  ;  and  we  wanted  to  pick  ours  out." 

"  Yes,  I  want  a  horse  't  I  can  ride,"  said 
Bertie,  who  had  recovered  his  spirits,  now  that 
he  was  warm  and  fed. 

"Pore  little  things!"  said  Philip  compas- 
sionately. "  Yo'  mus'  have  had  a  dreffle 
tramp  !  I  '11  see  how  the  weather  is." 

So  he  sat  Bertie  on  the  lounge-bed  and 
went  to  the  door.  A  fierce  blast  came  in  as 
he  opened  it,  with  a  flurry  of  snow,  nearly 


A  DROLL  SANTA  CLAUS  39 

putting  out  the  light.  He  shut  it  quickly,  and 
stood  a  few  moments  with  a  look  of  perplexity 
on  his  face. 

"  I  '11  tell  you  what/'  he  said  at  length,  in 
answer  to  Lily's  anxious  look,  "  it 's  teetotally 
umpossible  to  go  through  the  woods  to-night. 
I  would  n't  'tempt  it  in  this  yere  storm  myself, 
let  alone  toting  two  chillen.  I'll  fix  yo'  up  as 
comf 'able  as  I  can  hyere  to-night,  an'  soon  as 
it 's  light  I  '11  go  to  the  village  an'  tell  y'r 
folks,  an'  they  '11  come  with  a  sleigh.  There 's 
a  wood-road  round  a  little  piece  down  here." 

Bertie's  lip  went  up  for  a  cry ;  but  Lily 
took  him  in  her  arms  in  a  motherly  way,  and 
said  :  "  Never  mind,  Bertie,  dear ;  it  '11  soon 
be  morning,  and  we  '11  go  home  in  a  sleigh, 
maybe.  And  then  it'll  be  Christmas,  you 
know." 

They  talked  a  little  more,  and  then  Philip 
fixed  a  place  for  them  to  sleep.  He  shook  up 
the  bed  till  it  was  high  and  round,  laid  one 
blanket  over  it,  put  the  now  half-asleep  chil- 
dren in  it,  and  covered  them  up  as  snug  as  he 
could  with  the  other  blanket. 


40          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"  'T  ain't  much  of  a  cover  to  them,  I 
reckon,"  said  he  to  himself,  "  but  I  kin  keep 
a  fire  all  night,  an'  I  don't  suspicion  they  '11 
get  cold." 

Having  fixed  them  as  nicely  as  he  could, 
shaded  his  light  so  it  would  not  shine  in  their 
eyes,  and  replenished  his  stove,  old  Philip  sat 
down  on  his  soap-box,  and  fell  to  talking  to 
himself,  as  he  often  did  out  there  in  the  woods, 
for  want  of  other  company. 

"  Pore  creeturs !  "  he  said,  looking  at  the 
sleeping  children.  "  What  a  marcy  that  they 
got  sight  o'  my  light.  They  'd  be  done  dead 
by  this  time.  An'  to  think  the  little  innocents 
come  out  this-a-way  to  find  Santa  Glaus.  Pore 
things  !  Little  'nun0  Christmas  they  '11  have, 
I  'se  a  thinkin'.  I  wonder  what  they  'r  a-doing 
down  to  their  house.  Tearin'  round  fit  to  kill,  I 
reckon.  They  'r  somebody's  darlin's  I  see  plain 
'miff.  Won't  they  be  powerful  glad  to  see 
this  nigga  in  the  mornin'  ?  Yah  !  yah  !  "  he 
laughed  softly  to  himself.  "  I  reckon  they 
never  so  glad  to  see  this  chile  afore.  Pore 
things  !  "  he  went  on  after  a  little,  "  come  out 


A   DROLL  SANTA  CLAUS  41 

yere  to  see  Santa  Glaus  an'  get  some  presents. 
Golly !  "  he  exclaimed,  as  a  new  thought 
struck  him.  "  I  wonder  if  I  could  n't  hunt  up 
somethin'  'r  other  to  make  a  Christmas  mornin' 
bright.  They  '11  be  powerful  forlorn  when  they 
wakes  up." 

He  was  silent  some  time,  scratched  his  head, 
whistled  a  little ;  and  after  a  while  he  got  up 
softly  and  hung  their  stockings  up  to  dry.  "  I 
know  what  Ize  gwine  to  do,"  he  said.  "  I  '11 
give  'em  some  nuts  and  pop-corn,  anyway." 

He  drew  a  box  from  under  the  foot  of  the 
bed,  opened  it,  and  took  out  some  beechnuts 
—  delicious  little  three-cornered  things  that 
he  had  gathered  in  the  woods.  From  the  same 
box  he  took  two  pr  three  ears  of  small  pop- 
ping-corn.  As  he  attempted  to  push  it  back 
it  hit  something,  and  he  put  in  his  hand  and 
drew  out  a  stick. 

"  Golly  !  "  said  he  again,  "if  there  ain't  the 
very  stick  fur  a  hoss  fur  that  boy,  that  he 
wants  so  bad.  I  did  n't  'spect,  when  I  done 
shoved  it  in  under  there  fur  a  walking-stick, 
what  I  'd  want  it  fur." 


42          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

It  was  a  piece  of  a  branch  of  a  tree,  and  on 
one  end  it  was  bent  over  so  as  to  make  a 
natural  sort  of  a  handle.  It  would  do  very 
well  for  a  horse's  head,  too.  So  Philip  got  out 
his  old  jack-knife,  cut  a  sort  of  a  mouth  for 
the  horse,  dug  holes  in  the  bark  to  represent 
the  eyes,  made  a  sort  of  a  bridle  of  string, 
whittled  the  end  off  smooth,  and  there  was  as 
fine  a  riding-horse  as  any  boy  of  five  could 
ask  for. 

"  There,"  said  Philip,  "  that  '11  do  fur  the 
boy;  now  what  kin  I  find  fur  the  gal?"  A 
long  time  he  puzzled  over  this,  till  he  remem- 
bered some  birds'  eggs  that  had  been  in  his 
shanty  for  months.  He  took  down  the  old  coat 
that  hung  on  the  wall,  and  there  they  were, 
very  dusty  now,  but  not  broken.  Carefully 
he  took  them  down  and  washed  them  clean, 
breaking  one  or  two,  but  on  the  whole  suc- 
ceeding very  well.  Then  he  strung  them  on 
a  clean  string,  and  they  looked  very  pretty 
indeed. 

"  Little  curly  head  '11  like  that  'ar,  I  know," 
said  he,  with  a  grin  of  pleasure  on  his  black 


A   DROLL   SANTA   GLAUS  43 

face ;  "  an  I  '11  learn  her  the  name  of  every 
kind." 

Next  the  droll  old  Santa  Glaus  proceeded  to 
prepare  his  pop-corn.  He  took  out  from  some 
dark  corner  a  sort  of  iron  saucepan,  and  put 
it  on  the  stove  while  he  shelled  the  corn. 
When  it  was  hot  he  dropped  in  the  corn, 
covered  it  up,  and  began  to  shake  it  about, 
first  slowly,  and  then  faster  and  faster  as  the 
corn  popped  off  in  little  explosions  inside, 
every  few  seconds  looking  at  the  sleepers  to 
see  that  they  did  n't  wake  up.  They  were  far 
too  tired  to  wake,  and  when  he  had  poured 
the  beautiful  white  shower  out  on  the  table 
they  had  not  stirred  once. 

Then  he  went  on  to  hang  a  stocking  of 
each  child  on  the  wall  near  the  bed ;  and  then, 
tiptoeing  around  as  though  he  were  stepping 
on  eggs,  he  went  back  and  forth  filling  them. 
First  down  in  the  toe  came  beechnuts,  filling 
all  the  foot ;  then  popped  corn  stuffed  the  leg 
into  a  funny  bunchy  shape.  Then  over  Lily's 
he  hung  the  string  of  birds'  eggs,  and  over 
Bertie's  the  comical  horse. 


* 


44          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

All  this  work,  varied  by  replenishing  the 
fire,  kept  old  Philip  busy  till  nearly  morning, 
and  then  he  began  to  prepare  breakfast.  His 
potatoes  were  baked  and  his  hoecakes  mixed 
in  the  highest  style  of  the  art  when  Lily 
opened  her  eyes. 

At  first  sight  of  Philip  a  look  of  fright 
came  into  her  face,  and  then  she  remembered. 
"  Oh !  '•'  said  she,  "  I  thought  it  was  all  a 
dream,  and  I  was  in  my  bed  at  home." 

"  But  you  is  n't,  honey.  Yo  's  my  guest  this 
blessed  Christmas  mornin'.  Wish  yo'  Merry 
Christmas.  How  do  yo'  feel  ?  " 

"  I  feel  well  enough,"  said  Lily,  sitting  up. 
"  Is  this  Christmas,  really  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  old  Philip.  "See  your  stock- 
ing hanging  up  thar  ?  " 

Lily  looked  around  quickly.  "  Oh  !  what  a 
lovely  string  of  eggs.  Oh  !  where  did  you  get 
it?  Is  it  for  me?  "  burst  out  of  her  eager  lips. 

"Course  it's  for  yo',"  said  Philip,  showing 
all  his  teeth.  "  Santa  Claus  mus'  a  know'd 
whar  yo'  was,  an'  done  come  down  the  chimbly 
an'  leff  it  hyer  fur  yo'." 


A   DROLL   SANTA  GLAUS  45 

"  Oh  !  Bertie,  wake  up  !  "  cried  Lily,  shak- 
ing the  sleepy  boy.  "  It 's  Merry  Christmas, 
and  Santa  Glaus  has  been  here." 

Bertie  was  wide  awake  in  a  minute.  "  There 's 
my  horse,"  he  shouted,  as  soon  as  he  saw  it. 
"  Let  me  have  a  ride."  And  he  snatched  it 
down,  got  astride,  and  rode  around  the  small 
room,  perfectly  happy. 

"  Let 's  see  what  else  is  in  the  stockings," 
said  Lily,  taking  them  down. 

"  Oh  !  pop-corn  !  Is  n't  it  nice  ?  "  and  they 
began  to  eat  it  at  once. 

"  And  what  are  these  ?  "  she  asked,  as  she 
emptied  the  corn  into  her  lap,  and  the  nuts 
came  down  in  a  little  brown  shower. 

"  Le  's  see,"  said  Philip,  looking  at  them 
curiously,  as  though  he  had  never  seen  them. 
"  Why,  them 's  beechnuts  !  Did  n't  you  never 
see  beechnuts  afore  ?  There 's  heaps  in  the 
woods." 

"  No,  I  never  saw  any,"  said  Lily.  "  How 
do  you  open  them  ?  " 

Philip  showed  her  how  to  take  out  the  deli- 
cate nut,  and  she  declared  it  the  most  delicious 


46          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

nut  in  the  world.  "  Santa  Glaus  made  them 
purpose  for  us,  I  guess,"  she  said. 

It  was  some  time  before  Philip  could  get 
them  to  have  their  stockings  and  shoes  on  and 
eat  their  breakfast.  But  he  hurried  them  by 
reminding  them  how  anxious  their  mother 
would  be ;  and  as  soon  as  he  had  seen  them 
fed  he  got  ready  for  his  journey. 

It  did  not  look  very  promising  outside. 
The  snow  was  a  foot  deep,  though  it  had 
stopped  falling,  and  he  resolved  to  start. 

"  Now  mind  yo'  don't  set  the  house  afire," 
he  said,  as  he  put  on  his  buckskin  mittens  and 
buttoned  his  one  coat  up  tight  to  his  chin. 
"  Don't  let  the  fire  go  out,  nuther,  or  you  '11 
freeze." 

"  I  '11  tend  to  it,"  said  Lily. 

"  Good-by.  I  '11  hurry  fast  as  ever  I  kin," 
said  Philip,  and  went  out  and  shut  the  door, 
leaving  them  alone.  But  not  sad.  Far  from 
it ;  they  were  as  merry  over  their  rude  Christ- 
mas presents  as  though  they  had  a  room  full 
of  toys. 

And  how  do  you  suppose  the  night  had 


A   DROLL   SANTA   GLAUS  47 

passed  in  the  home  of  Lily  and  Bertie?  Not 
so  quietly  as  in  the  shanty  in  the  woods. 
When  their  absence  was  discovered  there  was 
great  excitement,  deepening  as  the  village  was 
searched  and  no  trace  of  them  revealed,  turn- 
ing to  horror  as  the  storm  came  up  and  the 
hours  went  by  and  no  children  to  be  found, 
and  settling  into  despair  when  the  various 
parties  who  were  out  hunting  returned  with 
no  trace.  There  was  excitement  all  through 
the  village ;  but  in  their  home  it  was  agony. 
The  father  spent  the  night  in  scouring  the 
country,  the  mother  in  going  from  one  faint- 
ing fit  to  another,  till  the  doctor  despaired 
of  her  life. 

It  was  a  welcome  sound  when  old  Philip's 
voice  rang  out  at  the  door.  "  Done  loss  any 
chillen  hyer?" 

Mr.  Deane,  who  had  just  returned,  rushed 
out.  "  Yes.  Do  you  bring  any  news  ?  " 

"  Well,  'spects  I  does.  Two  chillen  done 
spent  the  night  in  my  cabin." 

"  Come  in,"  cried  the  father,  hastily  draw- 
ing him  in.  "  Where  are  they  now  ?  How 


48          KRISTY'S   QUEER   CHRISTMAS 

did  you  find  them  ?  Where  is  your  house  ? 
Bless  you,  I  '11  never  forget  this  ! "  he  poured 
out  in  a  stream. 

"  One  at  a  time,  Massa,"  said  old  Philip, 
going  up  to  the  stove  in  the  hall  and  spread- 
ing out  his  black  hands  to  the  pleasant 
warmth.  "  My  shanty  is  over  in  the  woods  a 
piece  —  nigh  on  to  two  miles  from  here,  I 
reckon.  An'  them  two  chillen  sot  out,  nigh  's 
I  kin  make  out,  about  sundown,  to  find  Santa 
Claus.  They  see  my  light,  an'  come  to  my 
do'  'bout  eight  o'clock,  I  reckon,  nigh  about 
froze  an'  starved  ;  the  boy  cryin',  but  the  little 
gal  brave  an'  peart  to  the  last." 

By  the  time  the  story  was  finished  all  the 
household  had  gathered  around,  and  the  fa- 
ther had  Philip's  rough  hands  in  both  of  his. 
"  Bless  you,  my  man,  I  '11  pay  you  for  this." 

"No,  you  won't,"  said  Philip.  "I  don't 
want  no  pay.  But  them  young  ones  is  alone 
in  the  shanty,  an'  they  mowt  set  it  afire, 
though  I  charged  the  little  gal  to  look  out." 

"  Is  there  a  road  ?  Can  I  get  there  with  a 
sleigh?"  asked  Mr.  Deane. 


A   DROLL  SANTA  CLAUS  49 

"  You  kin  go  purty  nigh,"  said  Philip. 

"  Well,  you  get  warm  and  have  some  break- 
fast. Cook,"  turning  to  her,  "  give  him  the  best 
you  can  in  five  minutes,  while  I  see  about  the 
horses.  You,  Barbara,  get  cloaks  and  things." 

Seated  by  the  kitchen  table,  Philip  disposed 
of  a  cup  or  two  of  hot  coffee  and  some  cold 
meat  and  bread  in  a  few  minutes,  and  when 
the  sleigh  came  up  to  the  door  he  came  out. 

"  Have  you  no  overcoat  for  this  weather  ?  " 
asked  Mr.  Deane,  as  he  put  on  his  own  in  the 
hall. 

"  No,  sir,"  said  Philip.  "  The  wood-sawin' 
business  is  n't  over  'n  above  good  since  so 
many  burns  coal.  I  hasn't  had  an  obercoat 
fur  many  a  year." 

Mr.  Deane  turned  to  the  rack  from  which 
he  had  taken  his.  "  Here 's  one  for  you,"  he 
said,  handing  him  a  heavy  overcoat. 

Philip  was  overcome.  Something  choked 
him  so  that  he  could  n't  speak,  but  he  speed- 
ily got  into  it  and  followed  Mr.  Deane  out  to 
the  sleigh.  He  was  already  in,  and  he  bade 
Philip  get  in  by  him,  and  they  started  off. 


50          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

Of  course,  it  did  not  take  very  long  to  reach 
the  point  nearest  the  shanty,  though  the  road 
was  not  broken  and  it  was  rather  hard  pulling 
for  the  stout  pair  of  horses. 

When  the  father  opened  the  door  he  found 
Bertie  prancing  around  on  his  horse  and  Lily 
perfectly  happy,  studying  out  her  birds'  eggs. 

"  Oh  !  Papa,"  she  exclaimed  when  she  saw 
him,  "  Santa  Glaus  came  here  and  left  us  such 
beautiful  things  ! " 

"  See  my  horse  !  "  shouted  Bertie.  "  Santa 
Glaus  bringed  him  !  " 

Mr.  Deane  looked  around  the  room  and  un- 
derstood the  poverty  of  its  owner,  and  a  happy 
idea  occurred  to  him. 

"  Philip,"  he  said,  "  in  the  chamber  of  my 
barn  is  a  comfortable  room,  built  for  a  man, 
but  my  man  don't  Occupy  it.  I'm  going  to 
have  you  move  down  there  this  very  day  and 
live  in  it.  There 's  furniture  enough  about  the 
house  to  make  it  comfortable,  and  I  can  find 
work  enough  for  you  to  do  all  the  year  round. 
We  burn  lots  of  wood  and  have  a  garden  in 
the  summer ;  and,  in  fact,  I  take  you  into  my 


A   DROLL  SANTA  CLAUS  51 

employment  from  this  hour,  at  the  best  wages 
going,  to  last  your  life.  You  need  n't  say  any- 
thing," as  Philip  struggled  to  speak.  "  I  can 
never  repay  you  for  what  you  have  done  for 
me ;  but  I  '11  do  what  I  can.  Now,  if  you  '11 
help  me  carry  these  little  ones  over  to  the 
sleigh,  you  shall  have  a  team  to  come  for  your 
things." 

Well,  the  children  were  soon  in  their  mo- 
ther's arms ;  and  Mr.  Deane,  with  the  help  of 
the  whole  household,  spent  the  morning  in 
furnishing  up  old  Philip's  room. 

A  very  cosy  place  it  was  when  all  was  ready  : 
a  carpet ;  a  new  little  cooking-stove ;  a  nice 
bed,  made  up  with  white  sheets  and  things ;  a 
table,  a  chair  or  two,  including  one  rocking- 
chair  ;  a  cupboard,  containing  dishes,  tin,  and 
ironware  enough  to  set  up  a  family ;  jars  of 
sugar  and  tea  and  coffee  and  meal ;  and,  in 
fact,  everything  the  combined  household  could 
think  of  to  add  to  the  old  man's  comfort  — 
not  forgetting  a  goodly  array  of  half -worn  gar- 
ments from  the  family  storeroom. 

And  Philip  !  Well,  he  stood  and  looked  at 


52          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

it  in  silence,  taking  it  in  item  by  item,  till  he 
reached  a  picture  which  Lily  had  insisted  on 
giving,  hanging  it  up  with  her  own  hands,  and 
then  he  just  turned  his  face  to  the  wall  and 
covered  it  up  with  his  hands. 

And  they  all  stole  away  and  left  him  alone. 

When  Uncle  Tom  ended  his  story  it  was 
very  still  in  the  room  for  a  minute ;  nobody 
seemed  inclined  to  speak.  At  last  Kristy 
cleared  her  throat  and  said  : 

"  I  knew  you  'd  tell  a  tip-top  story,  Uncle 
Tom.  It 's  lovely,  and  you  must  put  it  in  a 
book  for  me." 

"  Humph  !  "  said  Uncle  Tom.  "  We  shall 
see,  Miss  Queeny  !  Your  reign  is  over  to- 
night. Now,  Aunt  Joe,  it 's  your  chance," 
said  he,  turning  mockingly  upon  his  neigh- 
bor. 

"Well,"  said  Aunt  Joe  quietly,  "the 
strangest  Christmas  doings  I  know  of  hap- 
pened a  good  many  years  ago." 


CHAPTER   IV 


IT  's  a  queer  story,  but  if  it  had  not  been  for 
a  big  black  bear  there  would  not  have  been  any 
Christmas  at  all  in  that  poor  little  log  hut  in 
the  woods  —  I  mean  any  Christmas  doings,  of 
course.  You  see  the  father  had  gone  off  to 
the  village  to  get  a  bag  of  meal.  He  had  been 
away  three  days,  and  there  were  no  signs  of 
his  coming.  It  was  Christmas  eve,  and  the 
very  last  spoonful  of  meal  was  boiling  in  the 
kettle  for  supper.  Every  minute  the  children 
were  looking  out  of  the  one  little  window  to 
see  if  Father  were  coming,  and  Mother  was 
getting  the  bowls  ready,  and  the  mush  was 
nearly  done,  when  suddenly  a  shout  came  from 
the  window. 

"  0  Mother  !  there 's  a  big  black  bear  !  " 
Mrs.   Carson  glanced  out  of  the  window. 
Bears  were  not  so  rare  as  to  be  startling  in 


54          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

the  woods ;  but  with  her  husband  away  she 
felt  nervous  about  everything. 

Sure  enough,  there  was  a  big  bear,  and 
what  was  worse  he  was  plainly  as  much  inter- 
ested in  them  as  they  were  in  him.  He  was 
headed  for  the  cabin,  and  shuffling  along  in 
a  sort  of  trot,  as  if  he  had  been  invited  to 
supper.  Mrs.  Carson  turned  pale. 

"  He  looks  hungry,"  she  said,  "  and  he 's 
coming  straight  here,  as  if  he  knew  we  were 
alone.  Children  !  hurry  up  into  the  loft,  while 
I  fasten  the  door !  " 

The  little  ones,  Carry  and  Jack,  needed  no 
further  orders ;  they  hastily  scrambled  up  the 
ladder  to  where  a  few  boards  had  been  laid 
across  the  beams  and  formed  a  loft  used  for 
storing  things  when  they  had  any  to  store. 

Frank,  however,  demurred.  "  Mother !  let 
me  take  Father's  gun  and  shoot  him  out  of 
the  window  ?  "  he  cried. 

"  No,  indeed ! "  said  his  mother,  as  she 
barred  up  the  door ;  "  you  're  not  a  good  shot 
like  your  father,  and  a  wounded  bear  is  a  ter- 
rible creature." 


HOW   A   BEAR  BROUGHT  CHRISTMAS    55 

"  He  's  coming  right  here ! "  shouted  Frank; 
"  straight  for  the  window  !  Run  !  run  !  " 

Up  the  ladder  he  went,  his  mother  after 
him,  and  when  they  turned  and  looked  down, 
the  bear  was  staring  in  at  the  window  in  a 
most  neighborly  way.  He  saw,  or  perhaps 
he  smelled,  the  boiling  mush,  for  he  sniffed 
as  if  it  pleased  him,  and  made  up  his  mind  to 
come  in. 

Now,  of  course,  he  did  n't  understand  glass, 
and  thought  that  where  he  could  look  in  he 
could  go  in  ;  and,  in  fact,  he  could  ;  for  one 
thrust  of  his  enormous  paw  smashed  every 
pane  of  glass  and  the  sash  besides,  and  in  he 
scrambled. 

"  0  Mother  !  "  whispered  Frank,  "  bears 
can  climb." 

"  Sh  ! "  his  mother  replied  in  the  same 
tone  ;  "  we  must  n't  let  him  suspect  we  're 
here." 

The  little  ones  were  already  speechless  with 
terror. 

But  the  bear  paid  no  attention  to  whisper- 
ing, if  he  heard  it ;  he  looked  neither  at  the 


56          KRISTY'S   QUEER   CHRISTMAS 

ladder  nor  at  the  gun  in  the  corner  ;  he  had 
eyes  for  only  one  thing  —  the  kettle  of  boiling 
mush.  He  sniffed  again,  as  if  the  odor  were 
agreeable  and  mush  his  favorite  food ;  and  he 
shuffled  straight  across  the  room  to  the  open 
fireplace  where  it  hung.  "  He  surely  won't 
touch  it  so  hot !  "  thought  Mrs.  Carson  ;  but 
she  did  not  know  him.  What  could  a  bear 
out  of  the  woods  know  about  heat?  He 
snatched  the  kettle,  dragged  it  off  the  hook, 
held  it  in  his  arms,  and  thrust  his  nose 
into  it. 

A  pang,  and  a  low  groan  from  above  as 
the  party  in  the  loft  saw  their  last  chance  of 
supper  gone ;  but  a  howl  of  pain  rose  from 
the  bear  as  his  nose  touched  the  boiling  mass. 
He  held  on  tighter ;  that  was  his  way  when 
anything  hurt,  to  squeeze  the  life  out  of  it. 
He  clasped  the  kettle  closer  and  closer  to  his 
breast,  and  louder  and  wilder  grew  his  cries ; 
but  he  never  thought  of  giving  up.  He  rolled 
on  the  floor  with  pain ;  still  he  held  on  to 
the  kettle,  and  the  mush  poured  out  into  his 
face  and  eyes,  and  in  about  two  minutes 


HOW  A  BEAR  BROUGHT  CHRISTMAS    57 

there  was  nothing  but  a  black  mass  rolling 
around,  knocking  over  the  chairs,  wild  and 
blinded. 

Now  was  Mrs.  Carson's  chance.  The  gun 
stood  in  a  corner ;  she  could  use  it.  With 
white  lips  she  bade  the  children  keep  still 
while  she  stole  down  the  ladder,  but  Frank 
held  her  tightly. 

"Mother!  Mother!  "  he  cried  eagerly,  "let 
me  !  I  'm  quicker  'n  you  !  I  '11  bring  the 
gun!" 

She  pushed  him  back.  "  Never  !  —  if  I  —  " 

But  Frank  was  quick  and  light ;  he  slipped 
between  the  bars  and  dropped  to  the  floor. 
Then  a  shriek  came  from  his  mother ;  but  in 
an  instant  he  had  seized  the  gun  and  was  half- 
way up  the  ladder  again.  How  he  got  up  he 
never  knew,  but  in  a  moment  he  was  safe  in 
the  loft,  again  looking  down  on  that  roaring 
and  tumbling  mass  below. 

"  Oh,  if  your  father  were  here !  "  came 
tremblingly  from  Mrs.  Carson's  white  lips. 

"  I  can  shoot,  Mother  !  "  cried  Frank,  and 
shoot  he  did.  He  could  not  take  much  aim,  of 


58          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

course,  but  he  shot  at  random.  I  spare  you 
the  particulars ;  it  is  enough  that  two  or  three 
shots  put  an  end  to  the  distress  of  the  poor 
fellow  on  the  floor,  and  when  all  was  quiet 
the  pale,  trembling  little  group  crept  down 
the  ladder.  Frank,  of  course,  was  wild;  he 
danced  around  the  fallen  foe. 

"  My  first  bear,  Mother !  and  such  a  big 
one !  won't  Father  be  pleased !  and  now  we 
can  have  a  splendid  supper !  bear's  meat 's  tip- 
top !  And,  Mother,"  as  a  new  thought  struck 
him,  "  now  we  can  have  a  Christmas !  now, 
youngsters,"  —  he  turned  to  the  little  ones  who 
sat  on  the  lower  rounds  of  the  ladder  ready 
to  scamper  up  on  the  slightest  movement  of 
the  big  beast,  —  "  now  Santa  Claus  '11  come 
here  sure." 

"  You  said  he  did  n't  know  the  way  out 
here,"  began  Carry. 

"Yes,  I  know  I  did;  but  this  splendid 
fellow  '11  show  him  the  way  —  you  '11  see  !  " 

"But,  Frank,"  said  his  mother,  "I  can't 
see  myself  what  you  can  do  ;  the  skin  is  worth 
something,  but  out  here  in  the  woods  there  's 


HOW  A  BEAR  BROUGHT  CHRISTMAS    59 

no  one  to  buy  it,  and  to-morrow  's  Christmas, 
you  know." 

"  Yes  ;  and  to-morrow  morning  I  '11  cut  this 
fellow  up.  I  '11  take  off  his  coat  to-night,  —  I 
know  how,  for  Father  taught  me,  —  and  I  '11 
pack  him,  or  what  we  don't  want  ourselves,  on 
to  my  big  sled,  and  —  " 

"And  drag  it  five  miles  to  the  village?" 
said  his  mother,  with  a  faint  smile. 

"  Yes,  Mother ;  why  not  ?  And  then  I  can 
hunt  up  Father,  too." 

"  I  don't  believe  you  can  do  it,  with  such  a 
load." 

"  Well,  I  know  I  can  ;  and  I  '11  sell  that  skin 
and  the  meat,  —  Mr.  Brown  buys  them,  I 
know,  —  and  I  '11  —  "  and  he  nodded  his  head 
in  a  mysterious  way  toward  the  children. 

"  Now,  Mother ! "  as  he  saw  her  lips  open 
to  reply,  "  please,  please,  let  me  have  my  way 
this  time !  I  know  I  can  do  it,  and  besides," 
he  said  hesitatingly,  "  what  did  you  say  about 
i  trusting  the  Lord  '  ?  Can't  you  trust  him  to 
get  me  safe  to  the  village  ?  " 

This  was  a  home  thrust,  and  Mrs.  Carson 


60          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

closed  her  mouth.  Sure  enough,  she  had 
talked  about  "  trusting ; "  it  was  now  time  to 
trust. 

Moreover,  she  was  getting  very  anxious 
about  her  husband,  who  she  knew  would  not 
have  left  them  so  long  alone  unless  something 
had  happened.  So  she  went  to  work  to  patch 
up  the  window  with  a  piece  of  white  cloth 
tacked  over  it,  the  best  she  could  do,  and  to 
make  up  the  fire  and  restore  the  room  to  or- 
der, while  Frank  proceeded  to  his  part  of  the 
work,  taking  off  Master  Bruin's  warm  thick 
overcoat,  which  he  would  not  need  any  more. 

Before  long,  too,  a  delicious  fragrance  filled 
the  little  log  house,  and  if  a  bear  had  come 
along  just  then,  he  'd  have  smelled  something 
more  savory  than  mush.  It  was  quite  late  that 
night  before  Mrs.  Carson  and  Frank  were  in 
bed,  for  it  was  a  pretty  big  piece  of  work  for 
a  boy  of  twelve  ;  but  boys  of  that  age  can  do 
a  good  many  things  when  they  happen  to  live 
in  the  woods  and  have  a  father  to  teach  them. 

With  the  first  light  the  family  were  astir. 
Frank  packed  his  long  sled  which  was  made 


HOW  A  BEAR  BROUGHT  CHRISTMAS    61 

to  drag  wood  to  the  house,  and  after  an  early 
breakfast  wrapped  himself  up  and  started. 

"  Mind,"  said  his  mother,  as  she  bade  him 
good-by,  "  get  Mr.  Brown  to  bring  you  back 
if  Father  is  n't  ready  to  come,  or  if  anything 's 
the  matter.  I  shall  be  worried  to  death  if 
you  're  not  home  before  dark." 

"  Don't  you  worry,  Mother.  It 's  Christ- 
mas day  and  I  'm  bound  to  be  home.  Carry 
and  Jack,  hang  up  your  stockings  before  you 
go  to  bed,  if  I  'm  not  here !  I  'm  sure  old 
Santa  '11  be  around,"  and  off  he  went.  Mrs. 
Carson  watched  him  out  of  sight,  and  then 
turned  with  a  sigh  to  her  work  in  the  house, 
for  children  must  eat  and  work  must  go  on, 
you  know,  whatever  happens. 

Frank  started  off  bravely,  though  the  load 
was  heavy  and  the  way  was  long,  but  how  he 
would  have  got  on,  and  whether  he  would 
ever  have  reached  the  village  all  by  himself, 
nobody  can  tell ;  for  when  he  got  up  onto  the 
main  road,  and  just  as  he  was  trying  to  per- 
suade himself  that  his  arms  did  n't  ache  the 
least  bit,  a  man  came  along  with  a  yoke  of  oxen 


62          KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

and  an  empty  wood-sled.  As  soon  as  Frank 
saw  him  he  knew  him ;  he  lived  in  the  vil- 
lage, and  no  doubt  was  going  right  home,  and, 
to  tell  you  the  truth,  it  took  Frank  about  one 
minute  to  make  a  bargain  with  him  to  drag 
his  load  and  him,  and  take  part  of  the  bear's 
meat  in  payment.  When  everything  was  ar- 
ranged and  Frank  climbed  up  under  the  buffalo- 
robe  beside  the  driver,  he  had  to  admit  to  him- 
self that  his  arms  were  a  little  tired,  and  "  How 
I  wish  Mother  knew,"  he  thought  all  the  way. 

Just  before  noon  Frank  and  his  sled  were 
dropped  before  the  door  of  Mr.  Brown's  store, 
and  having  paid  for  his  passage,  and  feeling 
at  least  a  foot  taller  than  he  did  yesterday,  he 
walked  in. 

"  Mr.  Brown,"  he  said,  trying  to  make  his 
voice  steady,  —  it  did  shake  so,  —  "  do  you 
want  to  buy  a  bear  skin,  and  some  meat  ?  " 

"  Why,  bless  me  !  it 's  Frank  Carson  ! " 
said  the  good-natured  storekeeper.  "  Where  's 
your  bear,  sonny  ?  " 

"  Out  here,"  said  Frank,  trying  very  hard 
not  to  look  proud. 


HOW  A  BEAR  BROUGHT  CHRISTMAS    63 

Half  a  dozen  men  of  the  kind  that  always 
hang  around  a  country  store  started  up  and 
rushed  to  the  door. 

"  Well !  the  boy  was  n't  lying,"  said  one, 
surprised. 

"  Humph  !  "  said  Mr.  Brown,  "  I  knew 
that.  He  does  n't  come  of  that  sort  of  stock. 
How  's  your  mother,  boy  ?  " 

"Well,"  said  Frank,  "but  can  you  tell 
me  about  Father?" 

"  Your  father,"  said  Mr.  Brown,  undoing 
the  fastenings  preparatory  to  spreading  out 
the  skin,  "  your  father  calculated  to  go  home 
this  very  afternoon  :  he 's  had  a  spell  of  sick- 
ness ;  has  n't  set  up  since  the  day  he  come. 
He 's  been  most  wild  about  you  all,  and  he 's 
upstairs  in  my  store  this  identical  minute. 
Why,  what  a  big  fellow !  "  he  interrupted 
himself,  "  how  did  you  get  him  ?  " 

Then  Frank  had  to  tell  the  story  of  his 
capture  while  his  audience  laughed  and 
thought  it  was  the  first  time  a  bear  had  been 
caught  in  a  mush-kettle  trap. 

In  an  hour  more  a  very  happy  load  set  off 


64          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

behind  Mr.  Brown's  mule  for  the  little  log 
house.  Mr.  Carson,  wrapped  and  bolstered  up 
in  a  big  chair,  so  that  he  would  not  get  too 
tired,  and  Frank,  with  more  money  than  he 
ever  had  in  his  life,  and  a  big  bundle  besides  — 
a  very  mysterious  package  that  even  his  father 
did  n't  know  about,  and  that  Mr.  Brown  had 
helped  him  hide  under  the  straw  of  the  sleigh. 
Not  least  of  all,  there  was  a  new  sash  for  the 
window,  and  a  board  out  of  which  to  make  a 
strong  shutter,  so  that  the  next  hungry  bear 
that  chose  to  come  smelling  around  after  their 
mush  might  not  find  it  quite  so  easy  to  get  in. 

"  Though  I  'm  mighty  glad  he  did  get  in, 
Father,"  said  Frank. 

"  Yes,  since  it  ended  well,"  said  his  father. 
"  But  suppose  it  had  been  night."  And  he 
shuddered  at  the  thought  of  what  might  have 
been. 

It  was  after  dark  when  the  little  light  of  the 
log  house  was  seen,  and  the  children  were  fast 
asleep.  After  having  some  supper  and  much 
talk  on  both  sides,  Frank  begged  his  father 
and  mother  to  go  to  bed  and  let  him  play  Santa 


HOW  A  BEAR  BROUGHT  CHRISTMAS    65 

Glaus.  They  were  very  willing,  and  thus  it  was 
done. 

The  next  morning  there  was  almost  as  much 
noise  in  the  house  as  when  that  bear  was  hug- 
ging the  mush-kettle.  Two  wilder  or  happier 
children  could  not  be  found  anywhere.  Their 
stockings  were  full  and  running  over,  and  be- 
sides there  was  a  nice  warm  dress  for  Mother 
and  a  subscription  to  a  weekly  paper  for  Father; 
and  all  the  rest  of  the  money  handed  to  Mrs. 
Carson  with,  "  There,  Mother !  I  Ve  had  all 
the  fun  I  want  out  of  that  bear.  You  may 
have  the  rest.  But  are  n't  you  glad  he  came 
to  see  us,  anyway?" 

"  But  where  is  your  present  ?  "  s$d  Mother. 
"  What  did  you  get  for  yourself?  " 

"Oh,  Mother!  I  didn't  think  anything 
about  it,"  said  Frank. 

"  But  I  thought  of  it,"  said  his  father ;  and 
then  he  brought  out  of  the  folds  of  Mr.  Brown's 
big  cloak  that  he  had  been  wrapped  up  in  to 
take  his  long  ride  the  day  before,  the  prettiest, 
neatest,  brightest,  best  little  gun  you  ever  saw. 

What  did  Frank  say  ? 


66          KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

Well,  his  eyes  grew   big;   he  stared  and 
gasped,  but  all  he  said  was,  — 
«  Oh,  Father ! " 

"  Now,  Auntie, "  said  Kristy  with  shining 
eyes,  when  the  story  ended,  "  you  always  told 
me  you  could  n't  tell  stories." 

"  No  more  I  can,"  said  Aunt  Joe. 

"  Well,  we  '11  see !  "  said  Kristy  threaten- 
ingly. "  I  shall  not  forget  this  one,  and  you 
may  as  well  rack  your  brains  for  more." 

Aunt  Joe  laughed,  and  everybody  turned  to 
Cousin  Harry,  who  sat  next. 

"  My  story,"  said  he  at  once,  "  is  about  a 
great  snowstorm.  It  happened  away  out  on 
the  prairies  to  a  family  I  knew.  Perhaps  you 
remember  them,  Grandma.  George  Barnes  was 
the  man's  name ;  they  used  to  li ve  near  here." 

"  To  be  sure  I  do,"  said  Grandma  with  in- 
terest ;  "  what  about  them  ?  " 


CHAPTER   V 

CHRISTMAS  UNDER  THE  SNOW 

IT  was  just  before'  Christmas,  and  Mr.  Barnes 
was  starting  for  the  nearest  village.  The  fam- 
ily were  out  at  the  door  to  see  him  start,  and 
give  him  the  last  charges. 

"  Don't  forget  the  Christmas  dinner,  Papa," 
said  Willie. 

"  'Specially  the  chickens  for  the  pie  !  "  put 
in  Nora. 

"  An'  the  waisins,"  piped  up  little  Tot,  stand- 
ing on  tiptoe  to  give  Papa  a  good-by  kiss. 

"  I  hate  to  have  you  go,  George,"  said  Mrs. 
Barnes  anxiously.  "  It  looks  to  me  like  a 
storm." 

"Oh,  I  guess  it  won't  be  much,"  said  Mr. 
Barnes  lightly ;  "  and  the  youngsters  must 
have  their  Christmas  dinner,  you  know." 

"  Well,"  said  Mrs.  Barnes,  "  remember  this, 
George ;  if  there  is  a  bad  storm  don't  try  to 


68          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

come  back.  Stay  in  the  village  till  it  is  over. 
We  can  get  along  alone  a  few  days,  can't  we, 
Willie?"  turning  to  the  boy,  who  was  giving 
the  last  touches  to  the  harness  of  old  Tim,  the 
horse. 

"  Oh,  yes !  Papa,  I  can  take  care  of  Mamma," 
said  Willie  earnestly. 

"  And  get  up  the  Christmas  dinner  out  of 
nothing  ?  "  asked  Papa,  smiling. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Willie,  hesitating,  as 
he  remembered  the  proposed  dinner,  in  which 
he  felt  a  deep  interest. 

"  What  could  you  do  for  the  chicken  pie  ?  " 
went  on  Papa  with  a  roguish  look  in  his  eye, 
"  or  the  plum-pudding  ?  " 

"  Or  the  waisins  !  "  broke  in  Tot  anxiously. 

"  Tot  has  set  her  heart  on  the  raisins,"  said 
Papa,  tossing  the  small  maiden  up  higher  than 
his  head,  and  dropping  her  all  laughing  on  the 
doorstep,  "and  Tot  shall  have  them  sure,  if 

Papa  can  find  them  in  S .  Now  good-by, 

all !  Willie,  remember  to  take  care  of  Mamma, 
and  I  depend  on  you  to  get  up  a  Christmas 
dinner  if  I  don't  get  back.  Now,  wife,  don't 


CHRISTMAS   UNDER  THE  SNOW        69 

worry  !  "  were  his  last  words  as  the  faithful  old 
horse  started  down  the  road. 

Mrs.  Barnes  turned  one  more  glance  to  the 
west,  where  a  low,  heavy  bank  of  clouds  was 
slowly  rising,  and  went  into  the  little  house  to 
attend  to  her  morning  duties. 

"  Willie,"  she  said,  when  they  were  all  in 
the  snug  little  log  cabin  in  which  they  lived, 
"  I  'm  sure  there 's  going  to  be  a  storm,  and  it 
may  be  snow.  You  had  better  prepare  enough 
wood  for  two  or  three  days ;  Nora  will  help 
bring  it  in." 

"  Me,  too  !  "  said  grave  little  Tot. 

"  Yes,  Tot  may  help  too,"  said  Mamma. 

This  simple  little  home  was  a  busy  place, 
and  soon  every  one  was  hard  at  work.  It  was 
late  in  the  afternoon  before  the  pile  of  wood, 
which  had  been  steadily  growing  all  day,  was 
high  enough  to  satisfy  Willie,  for  now  there 
was  no  doubt  about  the  coming  storm,  and  it 
would  probably  bring  snow ;  no  one  could 
guess  how  much,  in  that  country  of  heavy 
storms. 

"  I  wish  the  village  was  not  so  far  off,  so 


70          KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

that  Papa  could  get  back  to-night,"  said 
Willie,  as  he  came  in  with  his  last  load. 

Mrs.  Barnes  glanced  out  of  the  window. 
Broad  scattering  snowflakes  were  silently  fall- 
ing, the  advance  guard,  she  felt  them  to  be, 
of  a  numerous  host. 

"  So  do  I,"  she  replied  anxiously,  "  or  that 
he  did  not  have  to  come  over  that  dreadful 
prairie  where  it  is  so  easy  to  get  lost." 

"  But  old  Tim  knows  the  way,  even  in  the 
dark,"  said  Willie  proudly.  "  I  believe  Tim 
knows  more  'n  some  folks." 

"  No  doubt  he  does,  about  the  way  home," 
said  Mamma,  "and  we  won't  worry  about 
Papa,  but  have  our  supper  and  go  to  bed. 
That  '11  make  the  time  seem  short." 

The  meal  was  soon  eaten  and  cleared  away, 
the  fire  carefully  covered  up  on  the  hearth, 
and  the  whole  little  family  quietly  in  bed. 
Then  the  storm  which  had  been  making  ready 
all  day  came  down  upon  them  in  earnest. 
The  bleak  wind  howled  around  the  corners, 
the  white  flakes  by  millions  and  millions  came 
with  it,  and  hurled  themselves  upon  that 


CHRISTMAS   UNDER  THE  SNOW        71 

house.  In  fact,  that  poor  little  cabin  alone  on 
the  wide  prairie  seemed  to  be  the  object  of 
their  sport.  They  sifted  through  the  cracks 
in  the  walls,  around  the  windows,  and  \mder 
the  door,  and  made  pretty  little  drifts  on  the 
floor.  They  piled  up  against  it  outside,  cov- 
ered the  steps,  and  then  the  door,  and  then 
the  windows,  and  then  the  roof,  and  at  last 
buried  it  completely  out  of  sight  under  the 
soft  white  mass. 

And  all  the  time  the  mother  and  her  three 
children  lay  snugly  covered  up  in  their  beds 
fast  asleep,  and  knew  nothing  about  it. 

The  night  passed  away  and  morning  came, 
but  no  light  broke  through  the  windows  of 
the  cabin.  Mrs.  Barnes  woke  at  the  usual 
time,  but  finding  it  still  dark  and  perfectly 
quiet  outside,  she  concluded  that  the  storm 
was  over,  and  with  a  sigh  of  relief  turned 
over  to  sleep  again.  About  eight  o'clock, 
however,  she  could  sleep  no  more,  and  became 
wide-awake  enough  to  think  the  darkness 
strange.  At  that  moment  the  clock  struck, 
and  the  truth  flashed  over  her. 


72          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

Being  buried  under  snow  is  no  uncommon 
thing  on  the  wide  prairies,  and  since  they  had 
wood  and  corn-meal  in  plenty,  she  would  not 
have  been  much  alarmed  if  her  husband  had 
been  home.  But  snow  deep  enough  to  bury 
them  must  cover  up  all  landmarks,  and  she 
knew  her  husband  would  not  rest  till  he  had 
found  them.  To  get  lost  on  the  trackless 
prairie  was  fearfully  easy,  and  to  suffer  and 
die  almost  in  sight  of  home  was  no  unusual 
thing,  and  was  her  one  dread  in  living  there. 

A  few  moments  she  lay  quiet  in  bed,  to 
calm  herself  and  get  control  of  her  own  anx- 
ieties before  she  spoke  to  the  children. 

"  Willie !  "  she  said  at  last,  "  are  you 
awake?" 

"  Yes,  Mamma,"  said  Willie,  "  I  Ve  been 
awake  ever  so  long ;  is  n't  it  most  morning  ?  " 

"  Willie,"  said  the  mother  quietly,  "  we 
must  n't  be  frightened,  but  I  think  —  I  'm 
afraid  —  we  are  snowed  in." 

Willie  bounded  to  his  feet  and  ran  to  the 
door. 

"  Don't  open  it !  "  said  Mamma  hastily,  "the 


CHRISTMAS   UNDER  THE  SNOW        73 

snow  may  fall  in.  Light  a  candle  and  look 
out  the  windows." 

In  a  moment  the  flickering  rays  of  the 
candle  fell  upon  the  windows.  Willie  drew 
back  the  curtain.  Snow  was  tightly  banked 
up  against  it  to  the  top. 

"  Why,  Mamma !  "  he  exclaimed,  "  so  we 
are !  and  how  can  Papa  find  us  ?  and  what 
shall  we  do  ?  " 

"  We  must  do  the  best  we  can,"  said 
Mamma,  in  a  voice  which  she  tried  to  make 
steady,  "  and  trust  that  it  is  n't  very  deep, 
and  that  Tim  and  Papa  will  find  us,  and  dig 
us  out." 

By  this  time  the  little  girls  were  awake 
and  inclined  to  be  very  much  frightened,  but 
Mamma  was  calm  now,  and  Willie  was  brave 
and  hopeful. 

They  all  dressed,  and  Willie  started  the 
fire.  The  smoke  refused  to  rise,  but  puffed 
out  into  the  room,  and  Mrs.  Barnes  knew 
that  if  the  chimney  were  closed  they  would 
probably  suffocate,  if  they  did  not  starve  or 
freeze. 


74          KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

The  smoke  in  a  few  moments  choked  them, 
and  seeing  that  something  must  be  done,  she 
put  the  two  girls,  well  wrapped  in  blankets, 
into  the  shed  outside  the  back  door,  closed  the 
door  to  keep  out  the  smoke,  and  then  went 
with  Willie  to  the  low  attic  where  a  scuttle 
door  opened  onto  the  roof. 

"  We  must  try,"  she  said,  "  to  get  it  open 
without  letting  in  too  much  snow,  and  see  if 
we  can  manage  to  clear  the  chimney." 

"  I  can  reach  the  chimney  from  the  scuttle 
with  a  shovel,"  said  Willie.  "  I  often  have  with 
a  stick." 

After  much  labor,  and  several  small  ava- 
lanches of  snow,  the  scuttle  was  opened  far 
enough  for  Willie  to  stand  on  the  top  round 
of  the  short  ladder,  and  beat  a  hole  through 
to  the  light,  which  was  only  a  foot  above. 
He  then  shoveled  off  the  top  of  the  chimney, 
which  was  ornamented  with  a  big  round  cush- 
ion of  snow,  and  then  by  beating  and  shovel- 
ing he  was  able  to  clear  the  door,  which  he 
opened  wide,  and  Mrs.  Barnes  came  up  on  the 
ladder  to  look  out.  Dreary  indeed  was  the 


CHRISTMAS   UNDER  THE  SNOW        75 

scene !  Nothing  but  snow  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  and  flakes  still  falling,  though 
lightly.  The  storm  was  evidently  almost  over, 
but  the  sky  was  gray  and  overcast. 

They  closed  the  door,  went  down,  and  soon 
had  a  fire,  hoping  that  the  smoke  would  guide 
somebody  to  them. 

Breakfast  was  taken  by  candle-light,  dinner 
—  in  time  —  in  the  same  way,  and  supper 
passed  with  no  sound  from  the  outside  world. 

Many  times  Willie  and  Mamma  went  to  the 
scuttle  door  to  see  if  any  one  was  in  sight,  but 
not  a  shadow  broke  the  broad  expanse  of  white 
over  which  toward  night  the  sun  shone.  Of 
course  there  were  no  signs  of  the  roads,  for 
through  so  deep  snow  none  could  be  broken, 
and  until  the  sun  and  frost  should  form  a  crust 
on  top  there  was  little  hope  of  their  being 
reached. 

The  second  morning  broke,  and  Willie  hur- 
ried up  to  his  post  of  lookout  the  first  thing. 
No  person  was  in  sight,  but  he  found  a  light 
crust  on  the  snow,  and  the  first  thing  he  no- 
ticed was  a  few  half-starved  birds  trying  in 


76          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

vain  to  pick  up  something  to  eat.  They  looked 
weak  and  almost  exhausted,  and  a  thought 
struck  Willie. 

It  was  hard  to  keep  up  the  courage  of  the 
little  household.  Nora  had  openly  lamented 
that  to-night  was  Christmas  eve,  and  no  Christ- 
mas dinner  to  be  had.  Tot  had  grown  very 
tearful  about  her  "  waisins,"  and  Mrs.  Barnes, 
though  she  tried  to  keep  up  heart,  had  become 
very  pale  and  silent. 

Willie,  though  he  felt  unbounded  faith  in 
Papa,  and  especially  in  Tim,  found  it  hard  to 
suppress  his  own  complaints  when  he  remem- 
bered that  Christmas  would  probably  be  passed 
in  the  same  dismal  way,  with  fears  for  Papa 
added  to  their  own  misery. 

The  wood  too  was  getting  low,  and  Mamma 
dared  not  let  the  fire  go  out,  as  that  was  the 
only  sign  of  their  existence  to  anybody ;  and 
though  she  did  not  speak  of  it,  Willie  knew 
too  that  they  had  not  many  candles,  and  in 
two  days  at  farthest,  they  would  be  left  in 
the  dark. 

The  thought  that  struck  Willie  pleased  him 


CHRISTMAS   UNDER  THE  SNOW    •    77 

greatly,  and  he  was  sure  it  would  cheer  up  the 
rest.  He  made  his  plans,  and  went  to  work 
to  carry  them  out  without  saying  anything 
about  it. 

He  brought  out  of  a  corner  of  the  attic  an 
old  box-trap  he  had  used  in  the  summer  to 
catch  birds  and  small  animals,  set  it  carefully 
on  the  snow,  and  scattered  crumbs  of  corn- 
bread  to  attract  the  birds. 

In  half  an  hour  he  went  up  again,  and  found 
to  his  delight  that  he  had  caught  bigger  game 
—  a  poor  rabbit  which  had  come  from  no  one 
knows  where  over  the  crust  to  find  food. 

This  gave  Willie  a  new  idea :  they  could 
have  their  Christmas  dinner  after  all ;  rabbits 
made  very  nice  pies.  Poor  Bunny  was  quietly 
laid  to  rest,  and  the  trap  set  again.  This  time 
another  rabbit  was  caught,  perhaps  the  mate 
of  the  first.  This  was  the  last  of  the  rabbits, 
but  the  next  catch  was  a  couple  of  snow-birds. 
These  Willie  carefully  placed  in  a  corner  of 
the  attic,  using  the  trap  for  a  cage,  and  giving 
them  plenty  of  food  and  water. 

When  the  girls  were  fast  asleep,  with  tears 


78          KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

on  their  cheeks  for  the  dreadful  Christmas 
they  were  going  to  have,  Willie  told  Mamma 
about  his  plans.  Mamma  was  pale  and  weak 
with  anxiety,  and  his  news  first  made  her  laugh 
and  then  cry.  But  after  a  few  moments  given 
to  her  long  pent-up  tears,  she  felt  much  better, 
and  entered  into  his  plans  heartily. 

The  two  captives  up  in  the  attic  were  to  be 
Christmas  presents  to  the  girls,  and  the  rabbits 
were  to  make  the  long-anticipated  pie.  As  for 
plum-pudding,  of  course  that  couldn't  be 
thought  of. 

"  But  don't  you  think,  Mamma,"  said  Willie 
eagerly,  "  that  you  could  make  some  sort  of  a 
cake  out  of  meal,  and  would  n't  hickory-nuts 
be  good  in  it  ?  You  know  I  have  some  left 
up  in  the  attic,  and  I  might  crack  them  softly 
up  there,  and  don't  you  think  they  would  be 
good  ?  "  he  concluded  anxiously. 

"  Well,  perhaps  so,"  said  Mamma,  anxious 
to  please  him  and  help  him  in  his  generous 
plans.  "  I  can  try.  If  I  only  had  some  eggs  ! 
—  but  seems  to  me  I  have  heard  that  snow 
beaten  into  cake  would  make  it  light  —  and 


CHRISTMAS   UNDER  THE  SNOW       79 

there  's  snow  enough,  I  'm  sure,"  she  added 
with  a  faint  smile,  the  first  Willie  had  seen  for 
three  days. 

The  smile  alone  he  felt  to  be  a  great  achieve- 
ment, and  he  crept  carefully  up  the  ladder, 
cracked  the  nuts  to  the  last  one,  brought  them 
down,  and  Mamma  picked  the  meats  out  while 
he  dressed  the  two  rabbits  which  had  come  so 
opportunely  to  be  their  Christmas  dinner. 

"  Wish  you  Merry  Christmas !  "  he  called 
out  to  Nora  and  Tot  when  they  waked.  "  See 
what  Santa  Glaus  has  brought  you  !  " 

Before  they  had  time  to  remember  what 
a  sorry  Christmas  it  was  to  be  they  received 
their  presents,  a  live  bird  for  each,  a  bird  that 
was  never  to  be  kept  in  a  cage,  but  fly  about 
the  house  till  summer  came,  and  then  to  go 
away  if  it  wished. 

Pets  were  scarce  on  the  prairie,  and  the 
girls  were  delighted.  Nothing  Papa  could  have 
brought  would  have  given  them  so  much  hap- 
piness. 

They  thought  no  more  of  the  dinner,  but 
hurried  to  dress  themselves  and  feed  the  birds, 


80          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

which  were  quite  tame  from  hunger  and  weak- 
ness. But  after  a  while  they  saw  preparations 
for  dinner,  too.  Mamma  made  a  crust  and 
lined  a  deep  dish  —  the  chicken-pie  dish ;  and 
then  she  brought  a  mysterious  something  out 
of  the  cupboard,  all  cut  up  so  that  it  looked 
as  if  it  might  be  chicken,  and  put  it  in  the 
dish  with  other  things,  and  then  she  tucked 
them  all  under  a  thick  crust,  and  set  it  down 
in  a  tin  oven  before  the  fire  to  bake.  And 
that  was  not  all.  She  got  out  some  more 
corn-meal,  and  made  a  batter,  and  put  in  some 
sugar  and  something  else  which  she  slipped 
in  from  a  bowl,  and  which  looked  in  the  bat- 
ter something  like  raisins;  and  at  the  last 
moment  Willie  brought  her  a  cup  of  snow, 
and  she  hastily  beat  it  into  the  cake  or  pud- 
ding, whichever  you  might  call  it,  while  the 
children  laughed  at  the  idea  of  making  a  cake 
out  of  snow.  This  went  into  the  same  oven, 
and  pretty  soon  it  rose  up  light  and  showed  a 
beautiful  brown  crust,  while  the  pie  was  steam- 
ing through  little  fork-holes  on  top,  and  send- 
ing out  most  delicious  odors. 


CHRISTMAS   UNDER  THE  SNOW       81 

At  the  last  minute,  when  the  table  was  set 
and  everything  ready  to  come  up,  Willie  ran 
up  to  look  out  of  the  scuttle,  as  he  had  every 
hour  of  daylight  since  they  were  buried.  In  a 
moment  came  a  wild  shout  down  the  lad- 
der. 

"  They  're  coming  !    Hurrah  for  old  Tim  !  " 

Mamma  rushed  up  and  looked  out,  and 
saw  —  to  be  sure  —  old  Tim,  slowly  coming 
along  over  the  crust,  drawing  after  him  a 
wood-sled  on  which  were  two  men. 

"  It 's  Papa  !  "  shouted  Willie,  waving  his 
arms  to  attract  their  attention. 

"Willie  ! "  came  back  over  the  snow  in  tones 
of  agony.  "  Is  that  you  ?  Are  all  well  ?  " 

"  All  well !  "  shouted  Willie,  "  and  just  go- 
ing to  have  our  Christmas  dinner." 

"  Dinner  ? "  echoed  Papa,  who  was  now 
nearer.  "  Where  is  the  house,  then  ?  " 

"  Oh,  down  here  !  "  said  Willie,  "  under  the 
snow ;  but  we  're  all  right,  only  we  must  n't 
let  the  plum-pudding  spoil." 

Looking  into  the  attic,  Willie  found  that 
Mamma  had  fainted  away,  and  this  news 


82          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

brought  to  her  aid  Papa  and  the  other  man, 
who  proved  to  be  a  good  friend  who  had 
come  to  help. 

Tim  was  tied  to  the  chimney,  whose  thread 
of  smoke  had  guided  them  home,  and  all  went 
down  into  the  dark  room.  Mrs.  Barnes  soon 
recovered,  and  while  Willie  dished  up  the 
smoking  dinner,  stories  were  told  on  both 
sides. 

Mr.  Barnes  had  been  trying  to  get  through 
the  snow  and  to  find  them  all  the  time,  but 
until  the  last  night  had  made  a  stiff  crust  he 
had  been  unable  to  do  so. 

Then  Mrs.  Barnes  told  her  story,  winding 
up  with  the  account  of  Willie's  Christmas 
dinner.  "  And  if  it  had  n't  been  for  his  keep- 
ing up  our  hearts  I  don't  know  what  would 
have  become  of  us,"  she  said  at  last. 

"  Well,  my  son,"  said  Papa,  "  you  did  take 
care  of  Mamma,  and  get  up  a  dinner  out  of 
nothing,  sure  enough ;  and  now  we  '11  eat  the 
dinner,  which  I  'm  sure  is  delicious." 

So  it  proved  to  be ;  even  the  cake  or  pud- 
ding, which  Tot  christened  snow-pudding, 


CHRISTMAS  UNDER  THE   SNOW       83 

was  voted  very  nice,  and  the  hickory-nuts  as 
good  as  raisins. 

When  they  had  finished  Mr.  Barnes  brought 
in  his  packages,  gave  Tot  and  the  rest  some 
"  sure-enough  waisins,"  and  added  his  Christ- 
mas presents  to  Willie's ;  but  though  all  were 
overjoyed,  nothing  was  quite  so  nice  in  their 
eyes  as  the  two  live  birds. 

After  dinner  the  two  men  and  Willie  dug 
out  passages  from  the  doors,  through  the 
snow,  which  had  wasted  a  good  deal,  un- 
covered the  windows,  and  made  a  slanting 
way  to  his  shed  for  old  Tim.  Then  for 
two  or  three  days  Willie  made  tunnels  and 
little  rooms  under  the  snow,  and  for  two 
weeks,  while  the  snow  lasted,  Nora  and 
Tot  had  fine  times  in  the  little  snow  play- 
houses. 

"  Oh  !  "  said  Kristy  with  a  sigh,  after  the 
clapping  of  hands  that  greeted  the  adventures 
of  the  Barnes  family  had  ended,  "  how  dread- 
ful to  be  covered  up  with  snow  !  That 's  worse 
than  your  Christmas  snowstorm,  Grandma ; 


84          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

but  I  'm  so  glad  they  found  them  after  all ! 
and  what  a  cute  boy  that  Willie  must  be  ! " 

"  He  is,"  said  Cousin  Harry ;  "  and  I  '11  tell 
you  more  about  him  some  time.  But  now  let 
us  proceed  with  the  programme." 

"  Oh,  yes  !  it 's  your  turn,  Aunt  Lill,"  said 
Kristy. 

"I  shah1  tell  a  story  that  I  heard  from  a 
Danish  friend  of  mine,"  said  Aunt  Lill.  "  She 
was  in  it  herself,  but  I  shall  not  tell  you  which 
of  the  characters  she  was ;  you  may  guess." 


CHAPTER  VI 

CAROL'S  GOOD  WILL 

THE  story  begins  on  Christmas  morning  when 
Carol  Cameron  flung  herself  into  a  chair  and 
impatiently  muttered : 

"  I  wish  that  thing  would  n't  run  in  my 
head,  f  Peace  on  earth ;  good  will  to  men.' 
Humph  !  Precious  little  peace  there  is  for  me, 
<with  all  these  young  ones  to  take  care  of ;  and 
as  for  good  will," — hesitating,  —  "  as  for  good 
will,"  she  went  on  defiantly,  "I  suppose  my 
will 's  as  good  as  anybody's." 

The  words  would  seem  to  settle  the  matter, 
but  it  evidently  did  not  stay  settled ;  the 
thoughts  went  on,  "  Peace  on  earth ;  good 
will  to  men,"  still  ringing  through  her  head 
in  the  music  of  the  old  Christmas  chant. 

"  I  don't  see  how  I  can  be  expected  to  feel 
much  good  will,  anyway,"  she  mused,  looking 
out  of  her  window  across  miles  and  miles  of 


86          KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

snow-covered  prairie.  "  This  year  has  n't  held 
much  good  for  me.  First  it  took  away  my 
dear  Mother,  and  then  it  brought  me  to  this 
dreadful,  dreadful  prairie,  with  four  children 
to  care  for.  Oh  !  how  could  Father  bring  us 
here ! "  and  her  revery  ended  in  a  passionate 
burst  of  tears. 

It  was  a  dismal  picture,  looked  at  from  that 
side  alone,  and  the  tears  fell  fast  and  hot. 
But  the  glorious  words  went  chanting  through 
her  brain,  with  soothing  effect,  and  when  the 
tea  hour  arrived  she  was  able  to  take  her  place 
opposite  her  father,  looking  only  a  little  more 
sad  than  usual  in  those  unhappy  days. 

The  younger  children  glanced  at  her  anx- 
iously, for  since  Carol  had  been  in  Mother's 
place  she  had  been  a  little  exacting,  as  an  elder 
sister  sometimes  will.  It  was  plain  that  there 
was  some  great  but  suppressed  excitement 
among  them,  and  at  last  the  father  noticed 
it,  and  a  question  brought  out  the  breathless 
announcement  that  "  There  is  going  to  be  a 
Christmas  tree  at  the  schoolhouse;  the  Sun- 
day School  teachers  got  it  up;  it  is  going 


CAROL'S  GOOD  WILL  87 

to  be  splendid ;  and  everybody  is  invited ; 
and  every  scholar  will  get  something;  and 
oh,  Papa!  mayn't  we  go?"  ended  the  eager 
chorus. 

"  Why,  yes ;  I  have  no  objection,"  an- 
swered grave  Papa,  "  if  Carol  will  go  and  take 
care  of  you." 

All  eyes  turned  to  Carol,  sitting,  alas !  so 
hopeless,  at  the  tea-tray. 

"  No,  indeed,  I  '11  not !  "  came  instantly  to 
her  lips;  but  the  old  chant,  still  ringing 
in  her  head,  stopped  it  there.  She  hesitated. 
"  Good  will  to  men,"  went  on  the  silent 
monitor. 

"  Please,  Sissy !  "  whispered  baby  Grace, 
while  the  others,  grown  wise  by  the  year's  ex- 
perience of  Carol's  "  Don't  tease,"  dared  not 
open  their  lips. 

Carol  could  not  help  a  glance  around  that 
circle  of  eager  faces,  and  with  a  sudden  pang 
thought  how  little  she  had  done  to  make  them 
happy ;  how  poorly  she  filled  the  "  mother  " 
place  in  their  lives.  But  they  waited,  breath- 
less, for  her  reply. 


88          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"I  —  I  don't  think  it  will  be  pleasant,"  she 
began. 

"  Oh,  yes,  it  will ! "  burst  out  the  chorus. 
"  It  '11  be  lovely  !  and  everybody  's  going  to 
get  something." 

"  Everybody  dit  somesing  !  "  echoed  Grace. 

"  Good  will  to  men,"  went  on  the  silent 
chant,  and  "  Dear  me  !  how  that  does  bother 
me  !  "  in  her  thoughts  was  followed  on  her  lips 
by  a  reluctant  "  Well,  I  suppose  I  '11  have  to 
go,  if  you  're  all  so  wild  about  it." 

The  happy  chorus  of  "  Goody  !  goody  !  " 
and  the  merry  laughs  and  glad  faces,  as  they 
hurried  about  getting  ready,  were  so  many 
separate  pangs  in  Carol's  heart ;  but  she  had 
promised,  and  Carol  was  a  lady,  and  never 
broke  her  word. 

An  hour  later  saw  them  on  their  way,  dan- 
cing and  skipping  with  delight,  while  sad 
thoughts  of  last  Christmas  filled  Carol's  mind 
as  she  plodded  through  the  snow,  holding  fast 
to  Gracie's  little  hand. 

Last  year  Mother  had  planned  the  tree,  and 
though  she  had  lain  for  weeks  on  her  bed,  her 


CAROL'S   GOOD  WILL  89 

own  patient  fingers  had  made  the  pretty  de- 
corations and  the  lovely  presents.  Carol's 
hands  had  dressed  the  tree,  but  Mother,  on 
her  lounge,  had  told  her  what  to  do.  Mother, 
too,  had  taught  her  and  the  rest  the  good  old 
chant,  "  Peace  on  earth  ;  good  will  to  men." 

Just  here,  in  her  recollections  of  the  past, 
they  reached  the  door  of  the  schoolhouse,  which 
in  that  small,  far-western  town  served  for 
school  all  the  week  and  for  church  on  Sunday. 

Leaving  their  wraps  in  the  hall,  they  quickly 
joined  the  lively  crowd  within.  The  room  had 
been  cleared  of  desks  and  benches,  brilliantly 
lighted  with  many  candles  around  the  walls, 
and  in  the  middle,  admired  of  all,  stood  the 
tree. 

You  will  fancy  a  pretty  evergreen  tree, 
loaded  with  gifts  and  ornaments,  twinkling 
with  tiny  lights,  like  a  bit  of  fairyland  to  all 
children.  Far  other  was  the  scene  that  met 
Carol's  wide-open  eyes ;  very  different  was  this 
Christmas  tree  of  the  prairies. 

It  was  a  dead,  leafless  tree  of  the  woods, 
hung  with  small  round  scalloped  cakes  of 


90          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

maple  sugar,  festooned  with  strings  of  popped 
corn,  and  lighted  with  a  ring  of  tallow  candles 
set  around  it  in  the  tub  in  which  it  stood. 
That  was  all.  Such  and  so  bare  did  it  look  to 
Carol,  though  the  lively  imagination  of  the 
children  magnified  it  into  something  beautiful 
and  rare,  and  the  grown-ups  who  had  worked 
hard  to  prepare  it  saw  no  fault  in  it. 

"  You  poor  things  !  "  was  the  thought  that 
rushed  into  Carol's  head.  "You  think  that 
a  Christmas  tree  !  "  And  a  sudden  feeling  of 
pity  came  over  her  for  people  whose  lives  were 
so  bare  and  hard  that  they  knew  no  better 
Christmas  tree  than  that. 

It  was  her  first  kind  feeling  toward  the 
plain,  hard-working  villagers,  whom  she  had 
simply  despised.  It  must  have  been  the  magic 
work  of  the  old  chant,  for  a  thought  sprang 
up  in  her  mind  on  the  instant,  and  grew  with 
gourd-like  speed.  She  had  leisure  to  think 
her  plan  out,  even  there,  for  the  people  were 
somewhat  shy  of  the  still,  proud  girl,  who  had 
walked  among  them  as  a  stranger  for  several 
months,  showing  her  unhappy  face  only  at 


CAROL'S   GOOD  WILL  91 

church  and  in  the  street.  From  one  motherly 
old  lady,  however,  she  learned  that  no  one  in 
the  village  had  ever  seen  a  Christmas  tree, 
but,  reading  about  them,  the  teachers  had 
thought  one  would  be  pleasant  for  the  chil- 
dren, and  so  had  imitated  it,  as  they  supposed. 
"  And  sure  enough,"  thought  Carol,  in  try- 
ing to  account  for  the  leafless  object,  "  I  don't 
know  that  the  stories  ever  do  speak  of  its 
being  an  evergreen  tree." 

At  an  early  hour  the  merry  company  went 
home,  each  child  happy  with  a  cake  of  maple 
sugar  and  a  string  of  popped  corn,  and  soon 
all  the  Cameron  children  were  dreaming  of  the 
delightful  festival  that  we  all  know  "  comes 
but  once  a  year." 

Not  so  Carol.  Having  seen  the  last  sleepy 
head  on  its  pillow,  she  went  to  her  own  room, 
locked  the  door,  and  sat  down  before  her 
trunk.  Article  after  article  she  threw  out,  till 
she  reached  a  large  pasteboard  box  in  the  bot- 
tom, and  this  she  opened. 

What  a  glitter  in  that  dull  little  room ! 
How  the  dim  candle-light  flickered  and  flashed 


92          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

back  from  gilt  and  silver,  from  tiny  mirrors 
and  colored  glass  balls  !  Carol's  heart  was  full 
as  she  pondered  over  these  relics  of  last  Christ- 
mas, remembering  the  delightful  evening,  the 
beautiful  tree,  and  above  all,  the  dear,  pale 
mother  on  her  lounge,  so  interested  and  so 
happy  as  she  directed  the  dressing  of  the  tree. 

"I  must  teach  you,  Carol,"  she  had  said 
that  day,  "  for  when  I  'm  gone  you  '11  have  to 
be  mother  to  the  little  ones."  And  Carol  felt 
a  sharp  pang  as  she  remembered  once  more 
this  evening  how  far  short  she  had  come  of 
filling  their  mother's  place. 

"  Little  did  I  think,"  poor  Carol  murmured, 
as  one  by  one  she  took  the  treasures  from  the 
box,  and  looked  fondly  through  her  tears  at 
each,  "  little  did  I  think,  when  I  packed  them 
away,  where  they  would  next  be  used,  on  these 
terrible  prairies,  to  amuse  a  pack  of  savages 
who  never  saw  a  tree ;  and  I  almost  think," 
she  went  on,  after  a  moment,  "  I  don't  believe, 
after  all  — " 

She  hesitated ;  for,  strong  and  clear,  almost 
as  if  sung  by  human  lips,  went  that  trouble- 


CAROL'S   GOOD  WILL  93 

some  chant  through  her  head,  "  Peace  on 
earth  ;  good  will  to  men." 

Once  more  she  changed  her  mind.  "  Yes,  I 
will  too,"  she  said  bravely.  "  I  'm  ashamed 
of  myself  to  have  such  selfish  thoughts." 

That  night  she  lay  awake  and  matured  her 
plans,  which  were,  as  you  have  guessed,  to 
show  the  children  a  real  Christmas  tree. 

She  had  the  decorations,  to  be  sure,  but  she 
had  no  presents ;  worse,  she  had  no  candles  j 
and,  worst  of  all,  no  tree. 

After  much  pondering,  she  remembered  that 
she  had  a  long-unused  talent  for  making  paper 
dolls  and  their  dresses  and  belongings;  also,  she 
knew  how  to  fashion  funny  little  Quaker  dolls, 
with  hickory-nuts  for  heads.  Pretty  shell  cush- 
ions came  within  her  powers,  and  she  thought, 
with  pleasure  that  was  half  pain,  of  a  box  of 
scallop  shells  she  had  brought  from  the  sea- 
shore two  years  before.  This  reminded  her  of 
a  dainty  shell  picture-frame  she  once  saw ;  and 
instantly  came  the  memory  of  several  photo- 
graphs laid  away  in  her  desk  that  would  be 
just  the  things  to  fill  them. 


94          KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"  Lots  of  little  things  I  can  make  for  girls," 
she  thought.  "  But  what  can  I  do  for  boys  ?  " 

Then  she  remembered  the  tops  she  had 
made  for  her  brothers  out  of  half  a  spool 
with  a  stick  run  through. 

"  They  used  to  spin  nicely,"  she  thought ; 
"  and  if  I  paint  them  they  '11  look  pretty." 

Then  balls  occurred  to  her.  She  knew  well 
how  to  make  them  —  her  mother  taught  her 
—  of  woolen  yarn  wound  over  a  cork,  and 
covered  with  crochet-work  or  with  bits  of 
colored  leather. 

"Then  I  can  make  splendid  molasses  candy," 
she  added  triumphantly,  "  and  cunning  little 
cakes  that  I  used  to  cut  out  with  a  thimble 
for  my  dolls'  parties." 

For  the  candles,  she  suddenly  remembered 
that  Sarah,  the  faithful  woman  they  had 
brought  from  their  old  home  with  them,  made 
their  candles  by  dipping,  and  the  brilliant 
thought  flashed  over  her  that  at  one  period 
of  their  growth  they  were  very  thin,  no  thicker 
than  Christmas  candles,  and  why  could  n't 
they  be  cut  into  short  ones  ?  They  could,  she 


CAROL'S  GOOD  WILL  95 

was  sure  —  and  Sarah  was  good  nature  itself. 
"  And  I  'm  sure,"  thought  Carol,  "  that  she  '11 
do  it  if  I  ask  her." 

Now  about  the  tree.  That  seemed  almost 
hopeless  in  this  treeless  prairie  ;  but  she  knew 
that  the  northern  horizon  had  a  fringe  of  trees, 
several  miles  away,  and  she  resolved  to  hope, 
at  least,  that  among  them  were  evergreens. 
Cautious  inquiry,  the  next  day,  of  a  man  who 
came  to  saw  wood,  drew  out  the  fact  that 
there  were  a  few  evergreens  about  ten  miles 
off.  Carol  relied  on  her  father  to  help  her  to 
that,  and  at  once  began  her  preparations. 

She  secured  the  help  of  her  next  younger 
sister,  Jessie,  by  confiding  a  very  little  of  her 
plan,  and  making  her  promise  to  keep  it  secret, 
and  by  the  same  means  she  interested  her 
brother  Harry,  aged  thirteen.  A  much  greater 
part  of  her  intentions  —  yet  not  all  —  she 
confided  to  faithful  Sarah,  who,  pleased  to 
see  her  so  bright  and  interested,  readily  agreed 
to  make  the  candles. 

For  one  week  that  was  a  very  busy  house- 
hold. Carol's  fingers  fairly  flew,  and  balls  and 


96  KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

tops  and  dolls  and  other  little  gifts  accumu- 
lated very  fast.  Meanwhile,  Harry  whittled 
spools  to  a  point,  and  made  pegs  to  fit  them, 
and  Jessie  made  balls  and  other  things,  and 
both  were  devoured  with  curiosity  to  know 
what  sister  could  possibly  want  of  such  queer 
things. 

For  a  list  of  the  village  children,  with 
names  and  ages,  Carol  depended  on  Sarah, 
who  knew  everybody  and  visited  everywhere. 
There  were  not  many,  only  twenty-five ;  but 
to  get  up  a  tree  and  a  present  for  even  twenty- 
five  is  something  of  an  undertaking  for  one 
pair  of  hands,  far  from  the  region  of  shops  of 
any  sort.  But  Carol  was  resolved  to  have 
everything  ready  for  New  Year's  day,  and 
she  worked  as  never  before,  hardly  able  to  eat 
or  sleep. 

Two  evenings  before  the  day,  she  hurried 
the  children  off  to  bed,  and  then  went  down 
to  her  father  in  his  own  room.  He  —  ab- 
sorbed as  he  was  in  his  own  thoughts  and 
work  —  had  noticed  with  pleasure  the  differ- 
ence in  Carol's  manner.  No  longer  the  un- 


CAROL'S  GOOD  WILL  97 

happy,  sad  face  was  seen,  but  cheerful  smiles 
and  even  a  gay  laugh  had  once  or  twice  rung 
upon  his  ear. 

He  was  very  willing  to  listen  as  she  told 
him  some  of  her  arrangements,  and  her  great 
desire  to  have  an  evergreen  tree.  He  read- 
ily lent  himself  to  her  plan,  already  worked 
out,  that  he  should  get  a  certain  wood-sled 
and  horse,  take  Harry,  and  go  and  get  her  a 
tree,  timing  his  return  so  as  to  enter  the  vil- 
lage after  dark,  that  no  one  might  see  their 
load,  for  Carol  wanted  it  to  be  a  complete 
surprise. 

The  next  morning,  December  31,  Mr. 
Cameron  and  Harry  started  off  on  the  wood- 
sled,  greatly  to  the  amazement  of  the  curious 
villagers,  and  an  hour  later  Jessie  and  Sarah 
went  around  through  the  village  and  invited 
every  child  to  a  "  Christmas  tree,"  though 
it  did  come  on  New  Year's  evening. 

After  dark  the  tree  arrived  safely,  and 
proved  to  be  a  very  pretty  one.  Papa  himself 
set  it  up  in  a  tub  in  the  parlor,  and  wedged 
it  firmly  with  sticks  of  wood,  while  Harry 


98  KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

brought  in  great  annfuls  of  moss,  which  he 
had  gathered  by  Carol's  directions. 

The  younger  children  were  already  asleep, 
and  Harry  and  Jessie  were  allowed  to  help 
Carol  build  a  sloping  mound  around  the  tub, 
and  to  cover  it  nicely  with  the  moss,  and  then 
they  were  sent  to  bed. 

Sarah  had  that  day  made  the  candles,  which 
were  now  to  be  cut  into  four-inch  lengths; 
and  then  Carol  made  her  molasses  candy.  A 
pretty  show  it  was  when  at  last  all  was  done, 
and  spread  out  on  a  table  to  harden,  in  sticks 
and  twists  and  rings  and  figure  8's  and  other 
shapes,  all  white  and  delicious. 

Then  several  journeys  were  made  to  her 
room,  and  all  the  little  gifts  brought  down ; 
and  when  everything  was  safely  in  the  parlor, 
—  and  it  was  very  late  at  night,  —  the  door  was 
locked,  and  Carol,  with  the  key  in  her  pocket, 
went  to  bed. 

Everybody  in  the  house  knew  now  that 
there  was  to  be  a  Christmas  tree.  So  no  one 
was  surprised  that  Carol  spent  nearly  the 
whole  day  locked  into  the  parlor,  while  Sarah 


CAROL'S  GOOD  WILL  99 

baked  cakes  and  made  ice  cream,  which  Harry 
froze  by  shaking  it  an  hour  or  more  in  a  tin 
pail. 

Meanwhile  Carol  had  not  forgotten  the 
blessed  chant  which  had  wrought  all  these 
wonders.  Several  of  the  larger  girls  had  met 
at  her  house  and  learned  the  chant,  though 
they  did  not  know  what  for ;  and  now  they 
were  quite  ready  to  do  their  part  in  leading  it. 

Seven  o'clock  was  the  countrified  hour  at 
which  the  children  were  invited  to  appear,  and 
seven  o'clock  found  every  youngster  of  the 
village  within  the  door.  Then,  to  Carol's  dis- 
may, the  parents  began  to  arrive,  with  the 
universal  apology,  "  We  know  we  're  not  in- 
vited, but  we  do  want  so  much  to  see  your 
tree,  and  we  will  only  look  on." 

Who  could  refuse  them?  Not  Carol,  al- 
though dismayed  to  think  of  entertaining  the 
whole  town,  and  appalled  to  think  how  short 
would  fall  the  cakes  and  cream. 

However,  a  happier  party  never  assembled ; 
and  finally,  when  the  last  taper  was  lighted, 
and  the  door  into  the  parlor  was  thrown  open, 


100         KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

the  surprise  and  delight  of  every  one  was 
ample  pay  for  her  work. 

The  room  was  prettily  decorated  with  ever- 
green, and  the  tree  was  to  them  like  a  glimpse 
of  fairyland.  Not  only  had  they  never  seen, 
but  they  had  never  imagined  so  lovely  a  thing. 
As  for  the  children,  they  were  simply  spell- 
bound, till  Carol  arranged  them  in  a  circle 
around  the  tree,  bade  them  join  hands,  and  her- 
self led  them  in  their  dance  around,  singing 
the  dear  old  chant  her  mother  had  taught  her. 

Tears  were  in  many  eyes ;  and  as  for  Mr. 
Cameron,  Carol  found  him  a  half  hour  later, 
when  he  was  wanted  to  distribute  the  little 
gifts,  shut  up  in  his  room,  actually  weeping 
with  mingled  joy  and  pain. 

"  Now,  Papa."  she  began  ;  but  he  seized  her 
in  his  arms. 

"My  dear  daughter,  you  look  and  appear 
to-night  so  much  like  your  blessed  mother  that 
I  —  that  I  am  thus  overcome." 

Ah  !  don't  you  think  that  moment  paid 
her,  and  completed  the  change  the  chant  had 
begun  ? 


CAROL'S   GOOD  WILL  101 

When  the  marvelous  tree  had  been  suffi- 
ciently admired  from  every  side,  and  all  the 
candles  were  burnt  out,  and  everybody  had 
eaten  a  piece  of  cake  and  a  small  dish  of  cream, 
—  which  did  go  around,  though  not  so  gene- 
rously as  Carol  had  intended  for  the  chil- 
dren alone,  —  Papa  had  recovered  himself,  and 
gradually  dismantled  the  tree. 

The  surprise  and  wild  delight  of  the  children 
when  they  found  that  the  pretty  toys  were  for 
them,  that  not  one  was  forgotten,  and  the  gra- 
titude and  joy  with  which  they  hugged  their 
paper  dolls  and  spool  tops,  and  daubed  them- 
selves with  delicious  molasses  candy,  would  be 
a  lesson  to  those  who  have  dozens  of  presents 
every  year,  and  then  sometimes  grumble,  and 
it  all  made  for  Carol  the  very  happiest  Christ- 
mas she  had  ever  known,  though  she  received 
not  one  present,  and  had  worked  for  a  week 
harder  than  ever  in  her  life  before. 

"  Oh   dear !  "    said   Kristy,   "  what   lovely 
things  people  do  —  in  the  story  books." 
"  But  this  was  in  real  life,  as  I  told  you, 


102         KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

Kristy,"  said  Aunt  Lill.  "  It 's  all  true  except 
the  name." 

"  Then  her  name  was  n't  Carol  Cameron  at 
all,"  said  Kristy. 

"  No ;  of  course  her  name  was  Danish." 

"  Ah  !  now  we  Ve  caught  you  !  "  cried 
Kristy.  "  Your  Danish  friend  was  the  hero- 
ine!" 

Everybody  laughed,  and  Aunt  Lill  said, 
"  You  're  getting  well,  Miss  Kristy ;  you  're 
too  sharp  for  me." 

"  You  're  too  sharp  for  me,  too,"  said  Mr. 
Coles,  the  new  minister,  whose  seat  was  next ; 
"  to  invite  me  to  a  party  and  entrap  me  into 
telling  a  story." 

"  But  it  's  easy  for  you,"  said  Kristy. 
"  I  Ve  heard  you  tell  lots  of  stories  —  in  the 
pulpit,  you  know,"  she  added,  as  he  seemed 
surprised.  Then  everybody  laughed,  and  Mr. 
Coles  flushed  a  little,  but  in  a  moment  he  said : 

"Well,  I  shall  punish  you  for  that,  Miss 
Kristy,  by  telling  a  story  of  the  most  unplea- 
sant place  I  ever  saw,  a  rag-man's  home  in 
New  York  City." 


CAROL'S  GOOD  WILL  103 

"  Oh  !  oh  !  "  exclaimed  Kristy  in  dismay. 
"  Can't  you  think  of  a  pleasanter  one  ?  " 

"No,"  said  Mr.  Coles  firmly,  but  with  a 
twinkle  in  his  eye,  "it  's  that  or  nothing. 
Shall  I  tell  you  about  the  ash-barrel  girl,  or 
will  you  let  me  off  ?  " 

"  I  can't  let  you  off,  you  know,"  hesitated 
Kristy,  "but  —  what  is  an  ash-barrel  girl, 
anyway?" 


CHAPTER  VII 

OUT  OF  AN  ASH-BARREL 

IT  was  ash-barrel  day  in  Barclay  Street  one 
pleasant  morning  in  May,  and  every  shop  on 
the  street  had  decorated  the  walk  in  front  of 
its  door  with  a  barrel  or  box  of  rubbish  ready 
for  the  "  ashmen  "  to  empty  and  carry  away. 
Long  before  the  expected  carts  came  lum- 
bering around  the  corner  there  appeared  on 
the  scene  a  young  girl.  She  was  not  very  at- 
tractive :  barefooted,  ragged,  and  dirty ;  a 
shawl  tied  over  her  tangled  black  hair,  and 
a  hard,  saucy  look  in  her  face.  In  her  hand 
she  carried  a  long  iron,  hooked  at  the  end, 
and  over  her  shoulder  a  coarse  bag  ;  the  for- 
mer she  thrust  into  each  barrel  as  she  came 
to  it,  and  anything  she  dragged  up  that  could 
be  sold  she  stuffed  into  the  bag  to  carry  away. 
In  this  way  she  had  already  collected  half  a 
bushel  of  old  paper,  rags,  bones,  bottles,  and 


OUT  OF  AN   ASH-BARREL  105 

other  stuff  you  would  not  consider  of  the  least 
value. 

She  was  well  known  on  the  street,  for  many 
a  spruce  clerk  standing  in  the  door  spoke  jeer- 
ingly  to  her,  and  none  failed  to  get  a  sharp 
reply,  with  generally  an  ugly  grimace,  which 
always  caused  a  coarse  laugh  and  more  talk. 
Bad-tempered,  ready  to  "  talk  back,"  even  to 
scratch  and  bite  if  interfered  with,  Val,  the 
ash-barrel  girl,  seems  a  strange  character  for 
a  story.  But  this  is  n't  the  end,  you  know,  it 's 
only  the  beginning. 

The  first  poke  of  her  hook  in  a  barrel  be- 
fore a  large  china  store  uncovered  a  very  un- 
usual object  —  a  doll's  head.  A  look  of  surprise 
came  into  her  large  black  eyes,  next  a  quick 
glance  around  to  see  if  any  one  was  looking, 
and  then  a  sudden  disappearance  of  the  trea- 
sure into  her  pocket. 

She  hurried  through  the  rest  of  the  barrels 
in  the  row,  and  passed  down  the  street  toward 
the  river,  thinking  of  a  hiding-place  she  knew. 
It  was  a  corner  formed  by  a  pile  of  lumber  on 
the  end  of  a  pier  in  the  North  River,  —  so 


106        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

small  and  so  hard  to  reach  that  few  knew  of  it, 

—  where  she  often  spent  a  quiet  half  hour,  sure 
of  not  being  ordered  away  by  policeman  or 
workman,  looking  at  the  river  and  the  boats, 
thinking  hard  thoughts  of  her  hated  life,  and 
dreaming  of  plans  to  run  away.  For  she  could 
remember  when    things   were  very   different 

—  a  sweet-faced  mother  who  talked  another 
language,    and    caUed    her    Violetta ;    clean 
clothes,  enough  to  eat,  and  a  decent  home. 
That   was   two    or  three   years   ago,   before 
her  mother   was   carried   to  a  hospital   and 
never  came  back,  and  she  had  to  poke  over 
ash-barrels  to  keep  from  starving. 

This  morning,  as  I  said,  she  finished  her 
task,  and  hastened  to  her  private  nook.  Safely 
she  sh'pped  through  the  entrance  and  past  the 
policeman,  quickly  ran  across  the  narrow  plank 
over  the  water,  seized  the  end  of  a  projecting 
board,  swung  herself  around  the  corner  of  the 
pile,  at  the  great  risk  of  falling  into  the  river, 
and  then  sat  down  in  her  retreat. 

The  moment  she  was  safe  she  drew  from 
her  pocket  the  treasure  she  had  found,  and 


OUT  OF  AN  ASH-BARREL  107 

examined  it  at  her  leisure.  It  was  a  very  pretty 
head  of  bisque,  with  a  sweet  face,  blue  eyes, 
and  head  covered  with  short  real  curls  of  blond 
color.  It  was  not  soiled,  being  protected  by 
the  straw  it  had  been  packed  in,  and  was  not 
injured  in  the  least,  except  —  it  was  broken 
short  off  at  the  neck. 

This,  of  course,  unfitted  it  to  be  sold ;  but 
this  had  given  it  to  Val,  and  she  did  not  con- 
sider it.  She  was  lost  in  the  beauty  of  the 
face,  and  her  feeling  of  unexpected  wealth. 
This  was  her  very  own  !  You  who  have  dolls 
and  friends  in  plenty  cannot  imagine  the  joy 
this  poor  doll's  head  gave  the  lonely  little  ash- 
barrel  girl. 

No  one  should  ever  see  this  treasure.  It 
should  have  a  body  and  a  dress.  Val  could  n't 
yet  think  how,  but  she  was  sure  she  could  con- 
trive it.  It  should  have  a  name  too  —  hers  — 
the  prettiest  she  knew.  It  should  be  Violetta. 
"  Val 's  good  enough  for  me !  "  she  said, 
scorning  her  own  shabby  clothes  and  soiled 
hands. 

Some  time  passed  in  dreaming  and  planning 


108         KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

before  Val  remembered  that  she  must  go  back, 
or  the  master  for  whom  she  worked  would 
wonder  where  she  had  been,  and  perhaps  sus- 
pect she  had  found  something  ;  he  always  did 
suspect  that,  and  was  very  severe.  Slowly,  and 
after  a  long,  lingering  look,  she  hid  her  trea- 
sure away  in  her  pocket,  took  up  her  bag,  and 
retraced  her  steps. 

She  passed  through  several  streets,  and  at 
last  turned  into  a  narrow  alley  between  two 
tall,  tumble-down  houses.  The  alley  ended, 
in  the  middle  of  the  block,  in  a  small  court, 
paved  over,  and  half  filled  with  rubbish  of  all 
sorts.  Into  this  court  opened  several  wretched 
buildings,  and  every  building  had  dozens  of 
inhabitants.  Even  on  this  fresh  May  day,  so 
clear  and  breezy  outside,  the  air  was  heavy 
with  bad  odors,  and  noisy  with  voices  of  chil- 
dren. 

Val  hurried  across  the  court,  and  entered 
the  door  of  what  she  called  her  home.  It  was 
a  rather  large  room,  the  greater  part  occupied 
with  the  contents  of  the  bags  brought  in  by 
the  dozen  or  more  boys  and  girls  who  worked 


OUT  OF  AN  ASH-BARREL  109 

for  the  owner.  The  bags  had  to  be  emp- 
tied, and  the  contents  sorted  into  piles,  each 
kind  by  itself,  ready  to  be  taken  out  and 
sold. 

This  was  all  that  Val  had  of  home  and  com- 
fort. Was  it  any  wonder  that,  as  soon  as  the 
day's  tasks  were  over  and  she  had  devoured 
her  share  of  the  poor  food,  she  should  go  back 
into  the  street  to  wander  about,  to  steal  if  she 
had  a  chance,  to  sit  on  sunny  doorsteps,  hang 
around  shop  windows,  and  try  in  every  way 
desperation  could  suggest  to  add  some  pleasure 
to  life  ? 

One  side  of  an  old  pile  of  rags  in  a  corner 
of  the  room  Val  called  hers,  and  had  estab- 
lished her  claim  by  many  fights  and  hard 
words.  Under  this  was  her  only  hiding-place, 
and  here  was  carefully  concealed  the  doll's 
head. 

As  she  had  chance,  when  no  one  was  in  the 
room,  Val  arranged  a  body  by  making  a  hard 
roll  of  a  tolerably  clean  piece  of  muslin  she 
had  found,  and  stuffing  one  end  into  the  open 
neck  of  her  treasure.  No  arms  or  legs,  even 


110         KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

no  shoulders,  had  this  queer  doll,  yet  Val  was 
delighted  when  she  had  accomplished  so  much 
as  that. 

The  next  thing  was  a  dress.  Now  Val  had 
one  piece  of  finery,  found  in  an  ash-barrel  be- 
fore a  grand  house  up-town.  It  was  a  lady's 
silk  apron,  soiled  and  worn,  having  probably 
descended  from  the  parlor  to  the  kitchen,  and 
at  last  to  the  ash-barrel.  It  was  soiled,  to  be 
sure,  but  it  was  soft  in  texture  and  rich  in 
color,  and  it  was  lavishly  trimmed  with  ruffles. 
Often  at  night,  when  all  were  asleep,  and  the 
moon  or  the  street-lamp  made  a  little  light  in 
the  room,  Val  had  drawn  this  treasure  from 
its  hiding-place,  stroked  it  and  admired  it, 
tried  it  on,  and  dreamed  of  the  day  she  longed 
for,  when  she  should  dare  to  wear  anything  so 
elegant.  Now,  however,  that  she  had  her  dear 
Violetta  to  dress,  she  remembered  the  apron, 
and  decided  that  the  doll,  and  not  she,  should 
wear  it. 

She  waited  impatiently  for  Sunday,  when, 
work  being  stopped  because  of  the  city  laws 
and  the  police,  all  went  out  and  spent  the  day 


OUT  OF  AN  ASH-BARREL  111 

where  it  pleased  them  —  on  the  docks  or  on 
the  streets,  mission  schools  not  having  yet 
penetrated  the  court.  Val  had  been  used  to 
spend  much  of  her  Sunday,  when  the  weather 
was  fine,  in  the  nook  behind  the  lumber,  but 
this  day  she  stayed  at  home  and  dressed  her 
precious  doll.  She  had  no  needles  or  thread, 
or  scissors  with  which  to  cut  and  fashion  her 
dress,  even  if  she  had  known  how  to  do  so, 
but  she  had  plenty  of  pins  which  she  had 
picked  up.  With  these  she  arranged  the  little 
apron  into  a  dress,  finishing  the  whole  by  tying 
the  ribbon-strings  around  the  waist  to  form 
a  sash. 

No  French  doll  of  the  most  elegant  sort, 
with  dresses  and  jewels  by  the  trunkful,  ever 
gave  so  much  pleasure,  I  am  sure,  as  this  one 
poor  little  head,  dressed  in  an  old  silk  apron. 

Val  was  in  ecstasies.  She  could  not  take  her 
eyes  off  the  beautiful  creature,  and  she  felt  as 
happy  as  if  she  had  found  a  friend.  She  set 
her  upon  a  broken  chair  before  her,  called  her 
Violetta,  and  talked  to  her  in  the  language  her 
mother  had  talked  —  Italian. 


112        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

That  hour  the  poor  ash-barrel  girl  was  more 
happy  than  any  queen,  for  she  forgot  her  dis- 
mal surroundings,  her  hard  life,  her  cruel  mas- 
ter, her  always  yearning  hunger,  while  her 
eyes  grew  soft  and  her  heart  warm  with  real 
love  for  her  treasure. 

Now,  "  Old  Rags  "  —  as  her  master  was 
called  in  the  court  —  was  very  well-to-do  for 
a  resident  in  that  place ;  and  though  hard  in 
general,  he  had  one  soft  spot  in  his  heart. 
That  was  for  his  daughter  Miua,  who  was  a 
cripple  and  a  great  sufferer  :  it  was  said  on  ac- 
count of  her  father's  brutal  treatment  when 
young. 

However  that  may  be,  he  was  very  gentle  to 
her  now,  and  had  another  room  than  the  one 
Val  lived  in,  on  purpose  for  her.  This  room, 
furnished  decently,  though  very  poorly,  was  to 
Val  a  picture  of  comfort.  It  had  chairs  that 
could  be  used,  a  real  bed  with  pillows  and 
cover,  a  table  with  whole  dishes  to  eat  from. 
Into  this  room  Val  had  often  looked  with  envy 
of  the  poor  girl  lying  there.  She  envied  her 
pleasant  room,  her  decent  clothes,  enough  to 


OUT  OF  AN  ASH-BARREL  113 

eat,  her  easy  life  because  she  did  not  have  to 
poke  over  ash-barrels. 

A  day  or  two  after  she  had  completed  the 
dressing  of  Violetta,  and  while  her  heart  was 
still  full  of  happiness,  Val  had  occasion  to  pass 
the  door  of  Mina's  room.  It  was  a  little  open, 
and  looking  in,  as  she  always  did,  she  caught 
sight  of  the  child  on  her  bed,  her  face  white  and 
drawn  with  pain.  This  was  nothing  new,  but 
Yal's  eyes  fell  upon  a  doll  which  was  evidently 
carefully  cherished  by  the  little  invalid.  It  was 
of  rags  rolled  into  a  bundle,  and  dressed  in  a 
piece  of  faded  calico  simply  pinned  around  it 
like  a  shawl. 

In  an  instant  Val  thought  of  Violetta,  so 
much  more  beautiful,  and  this  thought  soft- 
ening her  heart,  she  was  seized  with  the  first 
feeling  of  pity  she  had  ever  felt  for  Mina. 
"  How  she  would  love  Violetta  !  "  came  like  a 
flash  into  her  mind,  instantly  followed  by  the 
thought,  "  But  I  won't  give  her  away." 

She  went  back  to  the  other  room,  but  some- 
how she  could  not  get  that  suffering  child  out 
of  her  mind ;  nor  could  she  put  away  the 


114        KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

thought  of  the  happiness  Violetta  would  bring 
to  her.  For  the  first  time  she  realized  what  it 
must  be  to  be  shut  up  all  the  time ;  suffering, 
too,  —  with  no  fresh,  sweet  air  as  Val  could 
get  when  she  went  down  to  the  water ;  no  cool 
sea  breeze ;  no  warm  sunshine ;  no  pretty  shop- 
windows  to  look  into  and  think  what  you 
would  have  if  you  could  choose ;  not  one  of 
the  pleasant  things  that  even  an  ash-barrel 
girl  could  have. 

"  But  she  does  n't  have  to  carry  an  old  bag, 
and  poke  in  the  dirt,"  Val  said  to  herself,  an- 
gry that  she  should  pity  one  so  much  better 
off  than  she.  "  Though  I  'd  rather  do  that 
than  never  go  out,"  she  could  n't  help  think- 
ing. "  And  then  she  has  good  dresses  to 
wear  and  enough  to  eat,"  came  to  her  from 
the  other  side.  "But  she  is  in  pain  all  the  time, 
and  often  can't  eat  a  bit,"  was  the  answering 
thought. 

So  the  battle  went  on  in  Val's  heart :  the 
pity  she  could  not  drive  away,  against  the  hard 
envy  she  had  always  felt.  Then,  too,  when  the 
pity  would  get  the  advantage  it  always  sug- 


OUT  OF  AN  ASH-BARREL  115 

gested  that  Val  should  give  her  the  doll. 
That  was  the  point  to  which  the  struggle  al- 
ways came  around. 

Several  days  passed,  and  the  next  Sunday 
came  before  Val  had  fought  the  battle  out  for 
herself ;  but  at  last  pity  conquered,  and  she 
resolved  to  give  her  only  treasure  to  one  who 
needed  it  more  than  she.  On  this  day,  there- 
fore, after  everybody  had  gone  out,  Val,  tak- 
ing a  passionate  leave  of  Violetta,  hid  her  in  a 
fold  of  her  dress,  and  went  to  Mina's  door. 

The  poor  child  lay,  as  usual,  on  her  little 
bed.  Val  walked  in,  and,  without  a  word,  held 
up  Violetta. 

"  See  my  doll ! "  she  said,  in  a  moment, 
shortly. 

Mina's  eyes  opened  wide  with  surprise  and 
admiration.  "Oh,  how  sweet!  Where  did  you 
get  her?"  she  gasped. 

"  Found  her  head ;  dressed  her  myself," 
said  Val  briefly. 

"  I  never  saw  one  so  pretty,"  said  Mina. 
"  May  I  take  her  a  minute  ?  I  '11  be  just  as 
careful." 


116        KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"  You  may  have  her  to  keep  !  "  shouted  out 
Val,  handing  her  over. 

Mina's  amazement  almost  struck  her  dumb. 
That  any  one  should  give  away  such  a  treasure 
was  beyond  her  understanding. 

"To  keep?" 

"  F'rever  'n  ever,"  said  Val  bravely,  though 
the  words  seemed  to  choke  her. 

"  Oh  ! "  was  all  the  poor  girl  could  say  in 
her  emotion,  and  Val  bolted  out  of  the  room, 
rushed  down-stairs,  and  threw  herself  on  the 
pile  of  rags,  feeling  more  desolate  than  ever. 

Not  that  she  wished  to  take  back  the  gift, 
but  it  was  a  wrench  to  her  very  heart-strings. 
It  was  as  if  you  were  giving  up  everything 
nice  and  pretty  you  have  in  the  world. 

"  Never  mind !  "  she  said  to  herself,  "  I  can 
go  out,  and  she  can't.  Maybe  I  '11  find  another 
head  —  and  another  apron,"  she  added,  more 
slowly ;  "  though  I  most  know  I  shan't." 

In  spite  of  her  pain  at  the  loss  of  Violetta, 
Val  was  surprised  to  find  a  strange  new  feel- 
ing about  her  heart,  a  sort  of  warmth  unusual 
to  her.  She  began  to  feel  an  interest  in  Mina, 


OUT  OF  AN   ASH-BARREL  117 

a  constant  wish  to  do  something  for  her.  She 
began  to  hang  around  her  door,  partly  to  see 
the  doll,  which  was  cherished  to  her  heart's 
content,  and  partly  to  try  to  do  something  for 
Mina.  Now  she  began  to  notice  Mina's  neat- 
ness, and  her  own  dirty  hands. 

"It 's  no  use,"  she  said  desperately,  the  first 
time  she  thought  of  this;  yet,  all  the  same, 
the  next  day  she  joined  the  throng  of  girls 
who  went  to  the  free  bath-houses  —  a  crowd 
she  had  often  laughed  at.  Now,  however,  she 
heartily  enjoyed  a  good  scrubbing,  and  came 
out  greatly  improved  in  looks  as  well  as  feeling. 

I  do  not  mean  to  go  on,  step  by  step,  and 
tell  you  how,  very  gradually,  Val,  the  ash- 
barrel  girl,  changed  from  the  day  she  made 
the  great  sacrifice.  She  stayed  more  with 
Mina,  and  grew  ashamed  of  rough  talk  and 
rude  ways.  To  her  surprise,  although  her 
work  was  as  dirty  and  unpleasant  as  before, 
although  she  had  no  better  food,  and  no  more 
attractive  surroundings,  she  somehow  found 
the  bitterness  and  hardness  taken  out  of  her 
thoughts.  She  acquired  the  habit  of  saving 


118        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

for  Mina  every  nice  thing  she  found,  which 
heretofore  she  had  hastily  eaten  herself  —  a 
good  half  of  a  discarded  banana,  a  fair  cherry 
or  two  in  a  lot  thrown  away,  a  sound  "  bite  " 
in  a  decayed  apple.  Everything  found  its  way 
to  the  sick  girl,  and  while,  strangely  enough 
(as  it  seemed  to  her),  making  Val  herself 
happier,  gave  new  pleasures  to  the  last  few 
months  of  Mina's  life,  for  before  cold  weather 
came  again  the  little  sufferer  was  released  from 
all  pain. 

If  you  have  ever  visited  a  spot  where  the 
graves  of  the  poor,  among  foreigners,  are 
made,  you  have  doubtless  seen  the  small  glass 
cases  or  houses  erected  over  the  resting-places 
of  children,  containing  their  playthings  and 
precious  possessions  —  a  broken  doll,  a  bat- 
tered cup,  a  tin  horse,  etc.  In  like  manner, 
over  the  lowly  bed  of  Mina,  her  father  placed 
a  small  house  of  glass,  and  in  it  —  Violetta ! 

No  one  asked  Val  to  go  to  the  small  funeral 
of  the  child,  but  she  heard  something  said 
about  "  Calvary  Cemetery,"  and  the  first  Sun- 
day she  could  inquire  the  way  there  she  walked 


OUT  OF  AN  ASH-BARREL  119 

out  —  several  miles  —  and,  to  her  own  sur- 
prise, found  the  last  resting-place  of  her  only 
friend,  by  help  of  Violetta,  who  sat  like  a 
queen  in  her  house  of  glass. 

And  now  the  doll  from  the  ash-barrel  did 
her  one  more  good  turn  —  the  last ;  for  the 
hopeless,  friendless  look  of  the  girl  attracted 
the  notice  of  a  lady  interested  in  the  charitable 
schools  of  the  city. 

Inquiring  about  her,  and  learning  her  friend- 
less condition  and  her  desire  to  improve,  the 
lady  placed  her  in  an  industrial  school,  where 
she  was  taught  to  read  and  write,  decent  ways 
of  life,  and  a  work  that  would  take  care  of 
her. 

The  last  time  I  saw  Val  she  was  dressed  in 
a  pretty  calico  dress,  with  a  long  white  apron, 
and  a  tiny  cap  on  her  head,  wheeling  a  baby 
carriage  :  a  most  trusty  looking  nurse-girl,  well- 
fed  and  happy. 

"  That  was  n't  so  bad,  after  all,"  said  Kristy. 
"  I  shall  not  be  afraid  of  you  again,  Mr.  Coles  ; 
but  it 's  dreadful  to  think  of  those  poor  girls 


120        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

in  the  city.  I  wish  I  could  give  every  one  a 
doll." 

"  The  only  story  I  know  about  Christmas," 
said  Mrs.  Carnes,  whose  turn  came  next,  "  is 
something  that  happened  in  a  little  village  in 
Maine,  near  enough  to  Canada  to  have  caught 
the  fashion  of  using  toboggans." 

"  Toboggans  are  lovely,"  said  Kristy  with 
a  sigh. 

"  Yes,  we  all  know  about  these  curious  sleds 
now,  but  at  the  time  of  my  story  they  were 
never  seen  out  of  Canada  and  its  borders." 


CHAPTER  VIII 


THE  story  begins  with  a  cold  Christmas  morn- 
ing when  a  certain  Mr.  Clark  was  starting  to 
go  to  the  village,  and  turning  in  the  doorway, 
said :  "  You  children  might  go  out  and  play 
with  the  toboggan  a  little,  while  I  'm  gone,  if 
you  like.  It 's  a  fine  sunny  morning,  and  you 
have  n't  been  out  lately." 

"  Oh,  yes  !  let 's,"  shouted  Willy,  dancing 
about.  "  Will  you,  Essey  ?  " 

A  pale,  thin  girl  of  perhaps  ten  years 
looked  up  from  the  stocking  she  was  trying 
to  darn. 

"  Yes,  if  you  want  to,"  she  said  quietly, 
though  it  was  plain  she  cared  nothing  for  it 
herself. 

"  Have  you  clothes  enough  left  to  wrap  up 
warmly  ? "  asked  their  father,  looking  anx- 
iously at  Esther. 


122        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"  Yes,  Father,  I  think  so;  and  we  can  come 
in  if  we  get  cold,"  she  answered. 

Mr.  Clark  closed  the  door,  and  brought 
from  the  woodshed  the  article  he  had  named, 
set  it  before  the  door,  and  started  for  town. 

Esther  put  away  her  work  and  brought  out 
a  curious  pile  of  wraps  to  put  around  them, 
and  they  were  soon  out  on  the  hill. 

Willy  was  carefully  placed  in  front,  and 
then  the  old-fashioned  little  woman  took  her 
seat  with  the  ropes  in  hand  for  the  ride.  The 
snow  was  just  right,  the  toboggan  flew  down 
the  hill,  and  Willy  shouted  with  delight. 
Esther  dragged  it  up  again  and  again,  and 
again  they  rode  down. 

In  her  enjoyment  of  Willy's  pleasure  Es- 
ther almost  forgot  her  thin  clothes  and  her 
worn  shoes,  but  when  they  started  down  on 
the  last  slide,  she  was  almost  numb  with  cold. 
No  doubt  it  was  that  which  made  her  lose 
control  of  the  toboggan,  and  let  it  shoot  out 
one  side,  as  it  did.  It  ran  plump  against  a 
half -covered  log,  took  a  flying  leap  through 
the  air,  burst  open  a  door,  and  landed  them 


A  TOBOGGAN  BROUGHT  FORTUNE  123 

square  in  the  middle  of  Miss  Harper's  prim 
kitchen,  terrified  half  out  of  their  wits,  and 
the  toboggan  a  wreck. 

Now  I  must  tell  you  about  Miss  Harper. 
She  was  a  tall,  elderly  woman  with  thin  gray 
hair,  and  eyes  so  sharp  they  seemed  to  fairly 
look  through  one.  Her  cottage  at  the  foot  of 
the  hill  was  as  neat  as  wax  inside  and  out,  and 
always  looked  as  though  it  had  just  been 
washed.  In  the  summer  she  had  a  nice  old- 
fashioned  garden,  with  hollyhocks,  larkspur, 
and  sweet,  fragrant  pinks,  where  never  a  weed 
showed  its  head,  or  at  least  not  an  instant 
after  Miss  Harper's  eyes  spied  it. 

When  the  Clark  children  came  to  live  in 
the  tumble-down  house  at  the  top  of  the  hill 
it  was  summer,  and  the  garden  was  blooming. 
They  had  always  lived  in  the  city,  and  to 
their  eyes  it  was  a  bit  of  fairyland,  and  they 
never  tired  of  looking  through  the  fence  and 
admiring,  though  not  for  an  instant  did  they 
dream  of  touching  a  flower. 

But,  unfortunately,  Miss  Harper  had  been 
much  annoyed  by  her  young  neighbors,  who 


124        KRISTY'S   QUEER   CHRISTMAS 

delighted  —  as  bad  boys  will  —  in  tormenting 
her  by  throwing  open  the  gate,  pulling  off 
the  flowers  they  could  reach,  and  doing  other 
equally  rude  and  ill-bred  tricks. 

So,  as  the  years  went  on,  she  had  grown 
cross  and  bitter,  not  only  against  the  boys 
themselves,  but  the  dreadful  disease  spread, 
—  as  it  will  if  one  lets  it,  —  till  she  grew  cross 
and  bitter  against  everybody.  One  after  an- 
other her  friends  were  driven  away  from  her, 
and  now,  at  last,  in  her  old  age,  she  lived 
alone,  no  one  loving  her,  or  caring  how  she 
fared.  The  boys  called  her  "  Old-witch  Har- 
per," and  not  a  friend  entered  her  door  from 
one  year's  end  to  another. 

This  was  a  dreadful  lif e,  and  she  might  have 
lived  and  died  so,  if  it  had  n't  been  for  the  to- 
boggan and  Esther's  cold  fingers. 

Miss  Harper's  usual  seat  was  by  a  window 
looking  into  the  garden,  and  the  first  time 
Esther  and  Willy  stopped  to  admire  the  flow- 
ers the  door  suddenly  burst  open  and  the  old 
woman  hobbled  out,  shaking  a  stick  and  shout- 
ing harshly,  "  Go  'way  !  go  'way  !  No  boys 


A  TOBOGGAN   BROUGHT  FORTUNE    125 

allowed  here  !  "  Willy  screamed,  and  Esther 
seized  his  hand  and  ran  home  as  fast  as  her 
feet  could  carry  her. 

When  the  father  came  home  the  story  was 
repeated,  and  he  told  them  that  poor  Miss 
Harper  was  a  lonely,  sad  old  woman,  and 
would  not  touch  them  if  they  did  not  med- 
dle with  her.  So  they  learned  to  only  glance 
at  the  lovely  flowers,  and  never  to  linger, 
and  though  they  often  saw  her  great  silver- 
rimmed  spectacles  turned  towards  them,  she 
did  not  speak  to  them  again.  But  none  the 
less  she  was  the  great  bugbear  and  dread  of 
their  lives. 

What,  then,  was  their  horror,  on  the  day  my 
story  begins,  to  find  themselves,  not  only  in  the 
dreaded  woman's  own  house,  but  with  a  terri- 
ble litter  of  snow  and  a  wrecked  toboggan  and 
a  broken  door  !  Willy  lay  white  and  still  where 
he  had  fallen,  but  Esther  gave  a  shriek  of 
terror. 

Miss  Harper  had  jumped  up  full  of  rage, 
but  the  look  of  deadly  fright  on  Esther's  face 
changed  it  to  something  almost  like  pity. 


126        KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"  Hush  up  !  "  she  said  bluntly,  "  I  shan't 
eat  ye ! " 

"  Oh,  please,  Miss  Harper  !  "  Esther  faltered, 
"  we  did  n't  mean  to !  I  don't  know  how  it 
happened ! " 

"I  do,"  interrupted  Miss  Harper  grimly, 
beginning  to  gather  up  the  bits  of  broken 
wood.  "I  do  —  you  ran  into  the  old  log  that 
John  Wilson  ought  to  've  carted  away  years 
ago,  an'  left  there  just  to  spite  me.  I  '11  have 
the  law  on  him,  too,"  she  muttered,  bustling 
about  for  a  broom  to  brush  out  the  snow  be- 
fore it  began  to  melt. 

"  Here 's  a  pretty  to  do  !  door  broken,  house 
all  littered  up,  an'  a  child  —  why  don't  ye 
pick  the  boy  up  ?  "  she  interrupted  herself  to 

say- 
Esther  stared  like  one  dazed,  and,  in  fact, 

she  was  so  stiff  with  cold  that  she  could  hardly 

move,  but  now  she  turned  to  Willy,  who  had 

not  stirred. 

"  Willy !  Willy !  "  she  whispered,  trying  to 

lift  him  up,  "  get  up !  We  must  go  home ! 

Are  you  hurt  ?  " 


A  TOBOGGAN  BROUGHT  FORTUNE  127 

Willy  did  not  qpen  his  eyes  nor  move,  and 
a  great  fear  seized  her. 

"  Oh,  I'm  afraid  he  'skilled!  Willy!  Willy!" 
she  cried  desperately. 

Miss  Harper  dropped  her  broom  and  came 
to  him. 

"  He 's  in  a  faint,"  she  said,  a  little  less 
harshly.  "  We  must  get  him  on  to  the  lounge, 
and  he  '11  get  over  it  in  a  minute." 

They  took  hold  of  him  to  lift  him,  but  a 
groan  showed  that  movement  hurt  him,  and 
they  left  him  on  the  floor.  Even  Miss  Harper 
was  alarmed  now,  and  as  for  Esther,  she  turned 
as  white  as  Willy  himself. 

"  Don't  ye  go  to  faint,  girl ! "  said  Miss 
Harper.  "  I  don't  want  two  on  my  hands.  Go 
up  home  and  call  your  father." 

"  Oh,  he 's  gone  to  town  ! "  wailed  Esther. 

"  An'  left  you  two  babies  alone  ?  "  said  Miss 
Harper  crossly. 

"  Oh,  I  'm  not  a  baby  —  I  'm  quite  a  woman, 
Papa  says,"  sobbed  Esther.  "  I  do  everything 
most  —  and  he  has  to  go  away  or  we  would  n't 
have  anything  to  eat,"  she  went  on,  letting 


128        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

out  the  sad  story  of  their  needs,  in  her  anx- 
iety to  prove  that  her  father  was  not  unkind. 

"  Humph  !  I  thought  as  much  !  "  said  Miss 
Harper,  relenting  a  little ;  "  but  we  must  have 
some  one  here.  Do  you  know  where  the  doc- 
tor lives?" 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  Esther  eagerly  ;  "  he  used 
to  come  and  see  Mamma  before  we  moved  up 
here." 

"  Well,  then,  you  run  for  him,  and  tell  him 
to  come  right  off." 

"But  if  Willy  should  wake  up?"  Esther 
hesitated. 

"  He  won't ;  an'  I  should  n't  eat  him  if  he 
did.  No  words,  child  !  go  on,"  and  Miss  Har- 
per fairly  pushed  her  out  of  the  door. 

"  The  boy  '11  die  before  they  get  here,  I  'm 
afraid,"  she  muttered  to  herself.  "It's  just 
my  luck  to  have  such  a  hurly-burly  in  my 
house." 

She  had  hardly  got  her  room  into  its  usual 
order  when  the  door  opened  and  Esther  came 
in  with  good  Dr.  S.,  whom  she  had  found 
on  the  street,  just  ready  to  start  out.  He  well 


A  TOBOGGAN  BROUGHT  FORTUNE  129 

remembered  her  mother,  who  had  died  while 
the  family  were  strangers  in  the  country,  and 
he  knew  of  the  misfortunes  which  had  brought 
them  to  sudden  poverty.  He  hastened  to  help 
the  child. 

He  found  that  Willy  was  very  badly  hurt, 
and  perhaps  would  never  be  able  to  walk  again; 
but  at  any  rate  it  was  not  safe  to  move  him 
now.  Yet  what  could  be  done  ? 

Miss  Harper,  who  was  looking  at  him 
closely,  saw  that  he  was  puzzled,  and  asked  in 
her  blunt  way,  "  What  is  it,  Dr.  S.  ?  " 

The  doctor  glanced  around  and  saw  that 
Esther  had  run  home,  hoping  to  find  that  her 
father  had  returned,  before  he  answered  her 
as  plainly,  "  It  will  be  sure  death  to  move  the 
boy." 

Miss  Harper's  mouth  opened  to  speak,  but 
he  went  on  boldly,  for  he  had  known  her 
when  she  was  a  young  girl,  and  he  knew  there 
was  a  heart  under  the  crust : 

"  Mary  Harper,  you  are  well  able  to  befriend 
these  unfortunate  babies,  who  are  fairly  thrown 
into  your  house,  and  you  dare  not  refuse  the 


130        KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

trust  as  you  hope  for  mercy  in  your  sorest 
need." 

"  I  'm  not  a  wild  beast,"  she  retorted  an- 
grily ;  "  of  course  I  expect  to  have  the  young 
one  stay  here  till  he 's  able  to  be  moved." 

So  that  was  settled. 

"Where  shall  he  be  put?"  asked  Dr.  S., 
who  knew  her  too  well  to  express  any  thanks. 

She  hesitated  an  instant.  Opening  out  of 
her  kitchen,  which  was  also  sitting-room,  and 
next  to  her  own  chamber,  was  a  pleasant  airy 
room  which  she  kept  in  the  most  exquisite 
order,  and  called  her  guest  chamber,  though 
not  for  many  years  had  a  guest  slept  there. 
One  pang  she  suffered  at  thought  of  a  boy 
within  its  sacred  walls,  but  a  glance  at  the 
wide  blue  eyes  of  the  sufferer  decided  her. 
•  "  In  here,"  she  answered  shortly,  throwing 
open  the  door. 

The  bed  was  prepared,  the  blinds  thrown 
open  to  let  in  the  sunlight,  and  in  half  an  hour 
Willy  lay  in  a  faint  again  on  the  snowy  pil- 
lows, almost  as  white  as  they. 

The  doctor  had  given  his  last  directions, 


A  TOBOGGAN  BROUGHT   FORTUNE    131 

and  turned  to  go.  At  the  door  he  met  Esther 
and  the  father  with  a  face  of  agony. 

"Mr.  Clark,"  said  the  doctor  kindly,  "Willy 
is  badly  hurt,  but  I  hope  not  permanently. 
Miss  Harper  is  going  to  nurse  him,  and  I 
shall  take  him  into  my  care  till  he  is  well 
again." 

Mr.  Clark  could  not  speak,  and  the  doctor 
went  on. 

"  Esther,  you  '11  be  a  little  woman  now,  I 
know  —  as  you  always  are.  You  can  be  a 
great  help  to  Miss  Harper." 

"  0  doctor !  can't  I  take  care  of  Willy  ?" 
sobbed  Esther.  "  You  know  I  can  be  careful." 

"  Yes,  I  know,"  said  the  doctor,  "  but  he 
needs  an  experienced  nurse,  and  there  is  none 
better,  or  kinder "  —  he  added,  seeing  her 
fear  and  dread  —  "  than  Miss  Harper.  So  you 
must  be  brave,  and  do  just  what  she  tells 
you." 

"  Oh,  I  will !  ".  answered  Esther,  choking 
back  her  tears. 

Miss  Harper  was  not  cross  all  the  way 
through.  Under  the  crust  she  had  a  kind 


132        KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

heart,  and  now  she  was  really  almost  glad  of 
a  change  in  her  lonely  life.  She  did  not  know 
it;  she  thought  it  was  a  great  trial,  and  a 
terrible  bother,  but  she  bustled  about,  mak- 
ing a  bowl  of  gruel,  preparing  the  medicine, 
and  putting  her  precious  "  spare  room  "  into 
sick-room  order,  more  briskly  than  she  had 
done  anything  for  months. 

Now  a  new  life  began  in  the  cottage.  The 
doctor  came  every  day,  and  for  some  time  they 
thought  Willy  would  die.  But  he  slowly  grew 
better,  and  before  spring  he  was  out  of  danger 
of  that,  but  still  had  to  lie  on  the  bed  or  lounge 
all  the  time,  suffering  much,  and  would  prob- 
ably have  to  lie  a  year  or  more  before  he  could 
hope  to  put  his  once  active  little  feet  to  the 
ground. 

From  the  first  moment  Esther  had  made 
herself  the  most  devoted  slave  to  Miss  Harper. 
Before  she  asked  for  anything,  almost  before 
she  thought  of  it,  it  was  ready  to  her  hand. 
The  fire  was  made,  the  rooms  dusted,  the  table 
set,  almost  like  magic  before  her  eyes.  Esther, 
in  the  years  that  her  father  had  been  troubled 


A  TOBOGGAN  BROUGHT  FORTUNE   133 

and  ill,  had  been  house-mother,  and  a  very 
deft  and  nice  one  she  was. 

At  first  Miss  Harper  demurred  ;  she  could 
not  bear  to  have  any  one  touch  her  particular 
duster,  her  special  broom,  her  precious  china. 
But  she  soon  saw  that  though  little  and  young, 
Esther  was  careful  and  old  beyond  her  years. 
So  gradually  she  came  to  sit  in  the  rocking- 
chair  and  be  waited  on. 

For  weeks  Esther  had  gone  home  at  every 
meal-time,  prepared  her  father's  food,  cleared 
it  away,  and  then  run  back ;  but  before  Willy 
could  sit  up  their  father  had  gone  to  join  the 
mother  in  the  Happy  Land,  and  they  were  left 
a  legacy  to  the  world  —  or  to  Miss  Harper. 

The  world  looked  on  with  interest  and 
doubt,  to  see  what  "  old  Miss  Harper  "  would 
do  with  the  burden  so  strangely  thrown  upon 
her.  But  there  was  no  doubt  or  hesitation  in 
her  mind.  Long  before  this  she  had  resolved 
to  adopt  Esther,  and  the  patient,  sweet  temper 
of  Willy  had  won  him  the  very  warmest  cor- 
ner of  her  lonely  heart.  Lonely  now  no  more, 
she  thought,  with  a  flush  of  happiness. 


134        KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"  I  have  n't  a  relation  in  the  world,  child," 
she  said  to  Esther,  when  she  began  to  worry 
about  their  future,  "  and  you  've  been  such  a 
comfort  to  me  that  you  shall  have  your  home 
with  me  as  long  as  I  live.  Willy,  too,  —  he 's 
a  good  boy,  —  and,  in  fact,  you  shall  both  be 
mine  now,  and  take  what  I  have  to  leave  when 
I  'm  gone.  That 's  settled  now,  and  we  '11  say 
no  more  about  it." 

No  more  was  said,  but  much  was  done. 
Esther  was  sent  to  school  and  Willy  supplied 
with  books  and  help  at  home,  and  in  a  few 
years  the  changes  were  so  great  that  one  would 
not  have  known  the  place. 

The  house  was  as  neat  as  ever,  but  the 
blinds  were  opened  now  in  every  room.  The 
flower  garden  was  prim  and  old-fashioned 
as  ever,  but  there  was  always  a  blossom  for 
every  passing  child.  Miss  Harper  was  whiter 
haired,  and  older  of  course,  though  she  looked 
younger,  and  had  really  become  quite  plump. 

She  usually  sat  in  her  rocking-chair,  at  the 
same  old  window,  while  bustling  around  the 
house  was  a  smiling,  happy-faced  young  girl 


A  TOBOGGAN  BROUGHT  FORTUNE  135 

with  a  song  always  on  her  lips.  Bending  over 
a  book  was  often  seen  Willy,  a  hard  student, 
somewhat  lame,  but  growing  stronger,  and 
preparing  for  college,  where  Miss  Harper  in- 
sisted on  sending  him. 

In  time  fine  houses  were  built  above,  on  the 
hill,  and  the  road  straightened  and  graded,  but 
the  old  log  that  turned  the  toboggan  from  its 
course  on  its  last  ride  was  never  allowed  to  be 
moved. 

"It  shall  stand  while  I  live,"  said  Miss 
Harper  firmly.  "  It  brought  me  the  best  for- 
tune of  my  life." 

"  That  was  a  very  nice  story  indeed !  " 
said  Kristy.  "  What  a  lovely  plan  this  was, 
Mamma !  I  never  had  such  a  delightful  Christ- 
mas ! " 

"  Unfortunately,"  said  Aunt  Lu,  "  my  story 
is  about  another  maiden  lady,  though  she  was 
not  so  terrible  as  Miss  Harper ;  in  fact,  she  was 
very  nice." 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  TELLTALE  TILE 

IT  begins  with  a  bit  of  gossip  of  a  neighbor 
who  had  come  in  to  see  Miss  Bennett,  and 
was  telling  her  about  a  family  who  had  lately 
moved  into  the  place  and  were  in  serious 
trouble.  "  And  they  do  say  she  '11  have  to  go 
to  the  poorhouse,"  she  ended. 

"  To  the  poorhouse !  how  dreadful!  And  the 
children  too  ?  "  and  Miss  Bennett  shuddered. 

"  Yes ;  unless  somebody  '11  adopt  them,  and 
that 's  not  very  likely.  —  Well,  I  must  go,"  the 
visitor  went  on,  rising.  "I  wish  I  could  do 
something  for  her,  but,  with  my  houseful  of 
children,  I  've  got  use  for  every  penny  I  can 
rake  and  scrape." 

"  I  'm  sure  I  have,  with  only  myself,"  said 
Miss  Bennett,  as  she  closed  the  door.  "  I  'm 
sure  I  have,"  she  repeated  to  herself  as  she 
resumed  her  knitting ;  "  it 's  as  much  as  I  can 


THE  TELLTALE  TILE  137 

do  to  make  ends  meet,  scrimping  as  I  do,  not 
to  speak  of  laying  up  a  cent  for  sickness  and 
old  age." 

"  But  the  poorhouse  !  "  she  said  again.  "  I 
wish  I  could  help  her !  "  and  the  needles  flew 
in  and  out,  in  and  out,  faster  than  ever,  as 
she  turned  this  over  in  her  mind.  "  I  might 
give  up  something,"  she  said  at  last,  "  though 
I  don't  know  what,  unless  —  unless,"  she  said 
slowly,  thinking  of  her  one  luxury,  "  unless  I 
give  up  my  tea,  and  it  don't  seem  as  if  I  could 
do  that." 

Some  time  the  thought  worked  in  her  mind, 
and  finally  she  resolved  to  make  the  sacrifice 
of  her  only  indulgence  for  six  months,  and 
send  the  money  to  her  suffering  neighbor, 
Mrs.  Stanley,  though  she  had  never  seen  her, 
and  had  only  heard  she  was  in  want. 

How  much  of  a  sacrifice  that  was  you  can 
hardly  guess,  you,  Kristy,  who  have  so  many 
luxuries. 

That  evening  Mrs.  Stanley  was  surprised 
by  a  small  gift  of  money  "  from  a  friend," 
as  was  said  on  the  envelope  containing  it. 


138        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"  Who  sent  it  ?  "  she  asked,  from  the  bed 
where  she  was  lying. 

"Miss  Bennett  told  me  not  to  tell,"  said 
the  boy,  unconscious  that  he  had  already  told. 

The  next  day  Miss  Bennett  sat  at  the  win- 
dow knitting,  as  usual, — for  her  constant  con- 
tribution to  the  poor  fund  of  the  church  was 
a  certain  number  of  stockings  and  mittens, — 
when  she  saw  a  young  girl  coming  up  to  the 
door  of  the  cottage. 

"Who  can  that  be?"  she  said  to  herself. 
"  I  never  saw  her  before.  Come  in ! "  she 
called,  in  answer  to  a  knock.  The  girl  en- 
tered, and  walked  up  to  Miss  Bennett. 

"  Are  you  Miss  Bennett?"  she  asked. 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Bennett,  with  an  amused 
smile. 

"  Well,  I  'm  Hetty  Stanley." 

Miss  Bennett  started,  and  her  color  grew  a 
little  brighter. 

"  I  'm  glad  to  see  you,  Hetty,"  she  said ; 
"won't  you  sit  down  ?  " 

"  Yes,  if  you  please,"  said  Hetty,  taking  a 
chair  near  her. 


THE  TELLTALE  TILE  139 

"  I  came  to  tell  you,"  she  began  simply, 
"  how  much  we  love  you  for  —  " 

"  Oh,  don't !  don't  say  any  more  !  "  inter- 
rupted Miss  Bennett ;  "  never  mind  that ! 
Tell  me  about  your  mother  and  your  baby 
brother." 

This  was  an  interesting  subject,  and  Hetty 
talked  earnestly  about  it.  The  time  passed 
so  quickly  that,  before  she  knew  it,  she  had 
been  in  the  house  an  hour.  When  she  went 
away  Miss  Bennett  asked  her  to  come  again, 
a  thing  she  had  never  been  known  to  do  be- 
fore, for  she  was  not  fond  of  young  people  in 
general. 

"  But  then,  Hetty  's  different,"  she  said  to 
herself,  when  wondering  at  her  own  interest. 

"  Did  you  thank  kind  Miss  Bennett  ?  "  was 
her  mother's  question  as  Hetty  opened  the 
door. 

Hetty  stopped  as  if  struck.  "  Why,  no  !  I 
don't  believe  I  did." 

"And  stayed  so  long,  too?  Whatever  did 
you  do  ?  I  've  heard  she  is  n't  fond  of  people 
generally." 


140         KRISTY'S   QUEER   CHRISTMAS 

"  We  talked ;  and  I  think  she 's  ever  so  nice. 
She  asked  me  to  come  again  ;  may  I  ?  " 

"  Of  course  you  may,  if  she  cares  to  have 
you.  I  should  be  glad  to  do  something  to 
please  her." 

That  visit  of  Hetty's  was  the  first  of  a  long 
series.  Almost  every  day  she  found  her  way 
to  the  lonely  cottage,  where  a  visitor  rarely 
came,  and  a  strange  intimacy  grew  up  between 
the  old  and  the  young.  Hetty  learned  of  her 
friend  to  knit,  and  many  an  hour  they  spent 
knitting  while  Miss  Bennett  ransacked  her 
memory  for  stories  to  tell.  And  then,  one  day, 
she  brought  down  from  a  big  chest  in  the 
garret  two  of  the  books  she  used  to  have 
when  she  was  young,  and  let  Hetty  look  at 
them. 

One  was  "  Thaddeus  of  Warsaw,"  and  the 
other  "  Scottish  Chiefs."  Poor  Hetty  had  not 
the  dozens  of  books  you  have,  and  these  were 
treasures  indeed.  She  read  them  to  herself, 
and  she  read  them  aloud  to  Miss  Bennett, 
who,  much  to  her  own  surprise,  found  her 
interest  almost  as  eager  as  Hetty's. 


THE  TELLTALE  TILE  141 

All  this  time  Christmas  was  drawing  near, 
and  strange,  unusual  feelings  began  to  stir  in 
Miss  Bennett's  heart,  though  generally  she  did 
not  think  much  about  that  happy  time.  She 
wanted  to  make  Hetty  a  happy  day.  Money 
she  had  none,  so  she  went  into  the  garret, 
where  her  youthful  treasures  had  long  been 
hidden.  From  the  chest  from  which  she  had 
taken  the  books  she  now  took  a  small  box  of 
light-colored  wood,  with  a  transferred  engrav- 
ing on  the  cover.  With  a  sigh,  —  for  the  sight 
of  it  brought  up  old  memories,  —  Miss  Bennett 
lifted  the  cover  by  its  loop  of  ribbon,  took  out 
a  package  of  old  letters,  and  went  down-stairs 
with  the  box,  taking  also  a  few  bits  of  bright 
silk  from  a  bundle  in  the  chest. 

"  I  can  fit  it  up  for  a  work-box,"  she  said, 
"  and  I  'm  sure  Hetty  will  like  it." 

For  many  days  after  this  Miss  Bennett  had 
her  secret  work,  which  she  carefully  hid  when 
she  saw  Hetty  coming.  Slowly,  in  this  way, 
she  made  a  pretty  needle-book,  a  tiny  pin- 
cushion, and  an  emery  bag  like  a  big  straw- 
berry. Then  from  her  own  scanty  stock  she 


142        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

added  needles,  pins,  thread,  and  her  only  pair 
of  small  scissors,  scoured  to  the  last  extreme 
of  brightness.  One  thing  only  she  had  to  buy 
—  a  thimble,  and  that  she  bought  for  a  penny, 
of  brass  so  bright  it  was  quite  as  handsome  as 
gold. 

Very  pretty  the  little  box  looked  when  full ; 
in  the  bottom  lay  a  quilted  lining,  which  had 
always  been  there,  and  upon  this  the  fittings 
she  had  made.  Besides  this,  Miss  Bennett  knit 
a  pair  of  mittens  for  each  of  Hetty's  brothers 
and  sisters. 

The  happiest  girl  in  town  on  Christmas 
morning  was  Hetty  Stanley.  To  begin  with, 
she  had  the  delight  of  giving  the  mittens  to 
the  children,  and  when  she  ran  over  to  tell 
Miss  Bennett  how  pleased  they  were,  she  was 
surprised  by  the  present  of  the  odd  little  work- 
box  and  its  pretty  contents. 

Christmas  was  over  all  too  soon,  and  New 
Year's,  and  it  was  about  the  middle  of  Jan- 
uary that  the  time  came  which,  all  her  life, 
Miss  Bennett  had  dreaded  —  the  time  when 
she  should  be  helpless.  She  had  not  money 


THE  TELLTALE  TILE  143 

enough  to  hire  a  girl,  and  so  the  only  thing 
she  could  imagine  when  that  day  should  come 
was  her  special  horror  —  the  poorhouse. 

But  that  good  deed  of  hers  had  already 
borne  fruit,  and  was  still  bearing.  When 
Hetty  came  over  one  day,  and  found  her  dear 
friend  lying  on  the  floor  as  if  dead,  she  was 
dreadfully  frightened,  of  course,  but  she  ran 
after  the  neighbors  and  the  doctor,  and 
bustled  about  the  house  as  if  she  belonged 
to  it. 

Miss  Bennett  was  not  dead  —  she  had  a 
slight  stroke  of  paralysis ;  and  though  she  was 
soon  better,  and  would  be  able  to  talk,  and 
probably  to  knit,  and  possibly  to  get  about  the 
house,  she  would  never  be  able  to  live  alone 
and  do  everything  for  herself,  as  she  had 
done. 

So  the  doctor  told  the  neighbors  who  came 
in  to  help,  and  so  Hetty  heard,  as  she  listened 
eagerly  for  news. 

"  Of  course  she  can't  live  here  any  longer ; 
she'll  have  to  go  to  a  hospital,"  said  one 
woman. 


144        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"  Or  to  the  poorhouse,  more  likely,"  said 
another. 

"  She  '11  hate  that,"  said  the  first  speaker. 
"  I  've  heard  her  shudder  over  the  poorhouse." 

"  She  shall  never  go  there !  "  declared  Hetty, 
with  blazing  eyes. 

"  Hoity-toity  !  who 's  to  prevent  ?  "  asked  the 
second  speaker,  turning  a  look  of  disdain  on 
Hetty. 

"  I  am,"  was  the  fearless  answer.  "  I  know 
all  Miss  Bennett's  ways,  and  I  can  take  care 
of  her,  and  I  will,"  went  on  Hetty  indig- 
nantly; and  turning  suddenly,  she  was  sur- 
prised to  see  Miss  Bennett's  eyes  fixed  on  her 
with  an  eager,  questioning  look. 

"  There  !  she  understands  !  she  's  better  !  " 
cried  Hetty.  "  May  n't  I  stay  and  take  care  of 
you,  dear  Miss  Bennett  ?  "  she  asked,  running 
up  to  the  bed. 

"  Yes,  you  may,"  interrupted  the  doctor, 
seeing  the  look  in  his  patient's  face  ;  "  but  you 
must  n't  agitate  her  now.  And  now,  my  good 
women,"  —  turning  to  the  others,  —  "I  think 
she  can  get  along  with  her  young  friend  here, 


THE  TELLTALE  TILE  145 

whom  I  happen  to  know  is  a  womanly  young 
girl,  and  will  be  attentive  and  careful." 

They  took  the  hint  and  went  away,  and  the 
doctor  gave  directions  to  Hetty  what  to  do, 
telling  her  she  must  not  leave  Miss  Bennett. 
So  she  was  now  regularly  installed  as  nurse 
and  housekeeper. 

Days  and  weeks  rolled  by.  Miss  Bennett  was 
able  to  be  up  in  her  chair,  to  talk  and  knit,  and 
to  walk  about  the  house,  but  was  not  able  to  be 
left  alone.  Indeed,  she  had  a  horror  of  being 
left  alone ;  she  could  not  bear  Hetty  out  of  her 
sight,  and  Hetty's  mother  was  very  willing  to 
spare  her,  for  she  had  many  mouths  to  fill. 

To  provide  food  for  two  out  of  what  had 
been  scrimping  for  one  was  a  problem ;  but 
Miss  Bennett  ate  very  little,  and  she  did  not 
resume  her  tea,  so  they  managed  to  get  along 
and  not  really  suffer. 

One  day  Hetty  sat  by  the  fire  with  her  pre- 
cious box  on  her  knee,  which  she  was  putting 
to  rights  for  the  twentieth  time.  The  box  was 
empty,  and  her  sharp  young  eyes  noticed  a 
little  dust  on  the  silk  lining. 


146        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"I  think  I  '11  take  this  out  and  dust  it,"  she 
said  to  Miss  Bennett,  "  if  you  don't  mind." 

"Do  as  you  like  with  it,"  answered  Miss 
Bennett ;  "  it  is  yours." 

So  she  carefully  lifted  the  silk,  which  stuck 
a  little. 

"  Why,  here  's  something  under  it,"  she 
said,  —  "  an  old  paper,  and  it  has  writing  on." 

"  Bring  it  to  me,"  said  Miss  Bennett ;  "  per- 
haps it 's  a  letter  I  have  forgotten." 

Hetty  brought  it. 

"  Why,  it 's  father's  writing !  "  said  Miss 
Bennett,  looking  closely  at  the  faded  paper; 
"  and  what  can  it  mean  ?  I  never  saw  it  before. 
It  says,  '  Look,  and  ye  shall  find '  —  that  's  a 
Bible  text.  And  what  is  this  under  it ?  'A 
word  to  the  wise  is  sufficient.'  I  don't  under- 
stand —  he  must  have  put  it  there  himself,  for 
I  never  took  that  lining  out  —  I  thought  it 
was  fastened.  What  can  it  mean  ?  "  and  she 
pondered  over  it  long,  and  all  day  seemed 
absent-minded. 

After  tea,  when  they  sat  before  the  kitchen 
fire,  as  they  always  did,  with  only  the  firelight 


THE  TELLTALE  TILE  147 

flickering  and  dancing  on  the  walls  while  they 
knitted,  or  told  stories,  or  talked,  she  told 
Hetty  about  her  father ;  that  they  had  lived 
comfortably  in  this  house,  which  he  built,  and 
that  everybody  supposed  that  he  had  plenty 
of  money,  and  would  leave  enough  to  take 
care  of  his  only  child,  but  that  when  he  died 
suddenly  nothing  had  been  found,  and  nothing 
ever  had  been,  from  that  day  to  this. 

"  Part  of  the  place  I  let  to  John  Thompson, 
Hetty,  and  that  rent  is  all  I  have  to  live  on. 
I  don't  know  what  makes  me  think  of  old 
times  so  to-night." 

"  I  know,"  said  Hetty ;  "  it 's  that  paper, 
and  I  know  what  it  reminds  me  of,"  she  sud- 
denly shouted,  in  a  way  very  unusual  with  her. 
"  It 's  that  tile  over  there,"  and  she  jumped 
up  and  ran  to  the  side  of  the  fireplace,  and 
put  her  hand  on  the  tile  she  meant. 

On  each  side  of  the  fireplace  was  a  row  of 
tiles.  They  were  Bible  subjects,  and  Miss 
Bennett  had  often  told  Hetty  the  story  of 
each  one,  and  also  the  stories  she  used  to  make 
up  about  them,  when  she  was  young.  The  one 


148        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

Hetty  had  her  hand  on  now  bore  the  picture 
of  a  woman  standing  before  a  closed  door,  and 
below  her  the  words  of  the  yellow  bit  of  paper  : 
"  Look,  and  ye  shall  find." 

"  I  always  felt  there  was  something  different 
about  that,"  said  Hetty  eagerly,  "  and  you 
know  you  told  me  your  father  talked  to  you 
about  it  —  about  what  to  seek  in  the  world 
when  he  was  gone  away,  and  other  things." 

"  Yes,  so  he  did,"  said  Miss  Bennett  thought- 
fully ;  "  come  to  think  of  it,  he  said  a  great 
deal  about  it,  and  in  a  meaning  way.  I  don't 
understand  it,"  she  said  slowly,  turning  it  over 
in  her  mind. 

"I  do  !  "  cried  Hetty  enthusiastically.  "  I 
believe  you  are  to  seek  here !  I  believe  it  's 
loose ! "  and  she  tried  to  shake  it.  "  It  is 
loose  !  "  she  cried  excitedly.  "  Oh,  Miss  Ben- 
nett, may  I  take  it  out  ?  " 

Miss  Bennett  had  turned  deadly  pale. 
"  Yes,"  she  gasped,  hardly  knowing  what  she 
expected,  or  dared  to  hope. 

A  sudden  push  from  Hetty's  strong  fingers, 
and  the  tile  slipped  out  at  one  side  and  fell  to 


THE  TELLTALE   TILE  149 

the  floor.  Behind  it  was  an  opening  into  the 
brickwork.  Hetty  thrust  in  her  hand. 

"  There  's  something  in  there !  "  she  said  in 
an  awed  tone. 

"  A  light ! "  said  Miss   Bennett   hoarsely. 

There  was  not  a  candle  in  the  house,  but 
Hetty  seized  a  brand  from  the  fire,  and  held 
it  up  and  looked  in. 

"  It  looks  like  bags  —  tied  up,"  she  cried. 
"  Oh,  come  here  yourself  !  " 

The  old  woman  hobbled  over  and  thrust 
her  hand  into  the  hole,  bringing  out  what  was 
once  a  bag,  but  which  crumbled  to  pieces  in 
her  hands,  and  with  it  —  oh,  wonder  !  —  a 
handful  of  gold  pieces,  which  fell  with  a  jingle 
on  the  hearth,  and  rolled  every  way. 

"  My  father's  money  !  Oh,  Hetty !  "  was 
all  she  could  say,  and  she  seized  a  chair  to 
keep  from  falling,  while  Hetty  was  nearly 
wild,  and  talked  like  a  crazy  person. 

"  Oh,  goody !  goody !  now  you  can  have 
things  to  eat !  and  we  can  have  a  candle !  and 
you  won't  have  to  go  to  the  poorhouse  !  " 

"  No,  indeed,  you  dear  child  !  "  cried  Miss 


150        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

Bennett,  who  had  found  her  voice.  "  Thanks 
to  you  —  you  blessing !  —  I  shall  be  comfort- 
able now  the  rest  of  my  days.  And  you !  oh  ! 
I  shall  never  forget  you !  Through  you  has 
everything  good  come  to  me." 

"  Oh,  but  you  have  been  so  good  to  me, 
dear  Miss  Bennett !  " 

"  I  should  never  have  guessed  it,  you  pre- 
cious child  !  If  it  had  not  been  for  your  quick- 
ness I  should  have  died  and  never  found  it." 

"  And  if  you  had  n't  given  me  the  box,  it 
might  have  rusted  away  in  that  chest." 

"  Thank  God  for  everything,  child  !  Take 
money  out  of  my  purse  and  go  buy  a  candle. 
We  need  not  save  it  for  bread  now.  Oh, 
child  !  "  she  interrupted  herself,  "  do  you 
know,  we  shall  have  everything  we  want  to- 
morrow !  Go  !  go  !  I  want  to  see  how  much 
there  is." 

The  candle  bought,  the  gold  was  taken  out 
and  counted,  and  proved  to  be  more  than 
enough  to  give  Miss  Bennett  a  comfortable 
income  without  touching  the  principal.  It  was 
put  back,  and  the  tile  replaced,  as  the  safest 


THE  TELLTALE  TILE  151 

place  to  keep  it  till  morning,  when  Miss  Ben- 
nett intended  to  put  it  into  a  bank. 

But  though  they  went  to  bed,  there  was  not 
a  wink  of  sleep  for  Miss  Bennett,  for  planning 
what  she  would  do.  There  were  a  thousand 
things  she  wanted  to  do  first.  To  get  clothes 
for  Hetty,  to  brighten  up  the  old  house,  to 
hire  a  girl  to  relieve  Hetty,  so  that  the  dear 
child  should  go  to  school,  to  train  her  into  a 
noble  woman  —  all  her  old  ambitions  and 
wishes  for  herself  sprang  into  life  for  Hetty. 
For  not  a  thought  of  her  future  life  was  sep- 
arate from  Hetty. 

In  a  very  short  time  everything  was  changed 
in  Miss  Bennett's  cottage.  She  had  publicly 
adopted  Hetty,  and  announced  her  as  her  heir. 
A  girl  had  been  installed  in  the  kitchen,  and 
Hetty,  in  pretty  new  clothes,  had  begun  school. 
Fresh  paint  inside  and  out,  with  many  new 
comforts,  made  the  old  house  charming  and 
bright.  But  nothing  could  change  the  plea- 
sant and  happy  relations  between  the  two 
friends,  and  a  more  contented  and  cheerful 
household  could  not  be  found  anywhere. 


152        KRISTY'S  QUEER   CHRISTMAS 

Happiness  is  a  wonderful  doctor,  and  Miss 
Bennett  grew  so  much  better  that  she  could 
travel,  and  when  Hetty  had  finished  school 
days,  they  saw  a  little  of  the  world  before  they 
settled  down  to  a  quiet,  useful  life. 

"  Every  comfort  on  earth  I  owe  to  you," 
said  Hetty,  one  day,  when  Miss  Bennett  had 
proposed  some  new  thing  to  add  to  her  enjoy- 
ment. 

"  Ah,  dear  Hetty  !  how  much  more  do  I  owe 
to  you !  But  for  you  I  should,  no  doubt,  be 
at  this  moment  a  shivering  pauper  in  that  ter- 
rible poorhouse,  while  some  one  else  would 
be  living  in  this  dear  old  house.  And  it  all 
comes,"  she  added  softly,  "  of  that  one  unself- 
ish thought,  of  that  one  self-denial  for  others." 

"  Now,  Mrs.  Anthony,  please,"  said  Kristy. 

"I  'm  not  much  of  a  story-teller,"  said  Mrs. 
Anthony,  "  but  I  am  willing  to  do  my  share, 
and  I  do  know  of  a  curious  Christmas  tree  out 
on  a  lawn.  It  was  at  the  house  of  a  friend, 
and  it  happened  this  way." 


CHAPTER   X 

THE  BIRDS'  CHRISTMAS  TREE 

THE  younger  daughter  of  the  house  was  very 
ill,  and  so  the  usual  Christmas  tree  was  put 
off,  but  Santa  Claus  slipped  in  quietly  and 
brought  presents  to  the  other  children,  among 
the  rest  to  Grace,  the  elder  daughter,  what 
she  liked  best  of  everything,  three  or  four  new 
books. 

After  breakfast  she  started  off,  meaning  to 
have  a  long  delightful  day,  curled  up  in  a  big 
blue  chair  in  the  library,  reading.  This  plea- 
sant picture  Mamma  spoiled,  as  Grace  started 
off  with  her  books  after  breakfast. 

"  My  dear,"  she  said,  "  I  shall  have  to  de- 
pend on  you  to  keep  the  twins  quiet  to-day." 

"Where's  Mary?"  said  Grace,  pausing 
with  her  hand  on  the  door-knob,  all  the  sun- 
shine going  out  of  her  face. 

"  Mary   had    to   go    home    to-day,"    said 


154        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

Mamma,  "  and  you  know,  dear,  it  is  the  crit- 
ical day  with  Bessie.  I  shall  not  leave  her,  and 
the  house  must  be  kept  very  still." 

"  Well ;  I  suppose  they  can  stay  with  me," 
said  Grace,  rather  ungraciously,  adding : 
"  Boys,  bring  your  playthings  into  the  library." 

"  But,  my  dear,"  said  Mamma,  hesitating, 
"  I  hate  to  spoil  your  pleasure  to-day  ;  but  you 
know  if  you  open  a  book,  you  will  forget  your 
charge." 

"  Not  look  at  my  new  books  !  "  exclaimed 
Grace.  "  Oh,  I  could  n't  possibly  help  it !  I 
won't  forget." 

"  Grace,"  said  her  mother  gravely,  "  I 
know  you  too  well,  and  it  is  my  particular  re- 
quest that  you  do  not  even  open  one  of  your 
books  to-day.  I  know  it 's  hard,"  she  went  on, 
seeing  the  look  in  Grace's  face,  "  but  the  life 
of  your  sister  may  be  the  forfeit." 

"  Hard  !  "  cried  Grace  hotly,  "  I  think  it 's 
horrid  !  "  and  she  rushed  out  of  the  room  be- 
fore her  mother  could  say  another  word.  She 
hurried  into  the  library,  flung  herself  into  the 
blue  chair,  and  burst  into  angry  tears. 


THE  BIRDS'  CHRISTMAS  TREE        155 

"  I  think  it 's  just  horrid !  "  she  sobbed 
violently.  "  It 's  bad  enough  to  take  care  of 
those  two  young  ones  without  giving  up  my 
books ! " 

"  But  you  know,  Grace  Houghton,"  said 
something  within,  "  you  know  you  'd  forget 
them." 

"  What  if  I  did  for  a  tiny  minute,"  she 
burst  out  in  reply  to  her  own  thoughts ;  "  they 
could  n't  turn  the  house  over  in  a  minute." 

"  No  ;  but  they  could  throw  down  a  table, 
as  they  did  yesterday,"  suggested  the  monitor 
within  ;  "  and  a  sudden  shock,  the  doctor  says, 
might  kill  Bessie." 

"  There 's  one  good  thing,"  said  Grace  sud- 
denly, sitting  up  and  looking  fondly  at  the 
books  she  still  held  in  her  arms,  "  she  did  n't 
say  I  should  not;  she  only  ' requested'  me 
not  to." 

"  But  you  would  n't  disobey  a  request  of 
Mamma's,"  was  the  next  thought,  on  which 
Grace  turned  red  and  looked  very  sulky  in- 
deed. 

Just  then  the  door  opened,  and  the  two 


156        KRISTY'S   QUEER   CHRISTMAS 

boys  and  a  load  of  playthings  were  brought 
in  and  deposited,  with  the  message  :  — 

"  Your  mother  said  I  was  to  bring  these  to 
you,  Miss  Grace." 

Well ;  that  was  not  a  very  promising  open- 
ing for  Christmas  morning,  to  be  sure,  and  it 
stayed  dismal  for  some  time.  Grace  sat  in  the 
blue  chair,  very  cross  and  sulky,  and  the  twins, 
five  years  old  and  very  lively,  played  with 
their  toys  on  the  floor.  Every  few  minutes 
Grace  had  to  interfere  with  a  sharp  "  Boys, 
do  be  still ! "  "  Harry,  stop  dragging  that 
train  across  the  floor  !  "  "  Willie,  don't  climb 
on  that  table ! "  and  so  on  ;  but  in  spite  of 
these  efforts,  a  good  deal  of  noise  was  made 
in  the  room. 

The  fall  of  a  chair  at  last  fully  aroused  her ; 
she  sprang  up. 

"  Grace  Houghton,"  she  said  warmly,  "I  'm 
ashamed  of  you  !  Do  you  want  never  to  see 
your  sister  again  ?  Do  you  care  more  for  a 
story-book  than  you  do  for  Bessie  ?  "  Reso- 
lutely she  crossed  the  room,  opened  a  drawer 
in  a  book-case,  laid  her  precious  books  in, 


THE  BIRDS'  CHRISTMAS  TREE        157 

shut  it  and  locked  it,  put  the  key  in  her  pocket, 
and  turned  to  the  twins,  who  had  just  arranged 
a  street-car  with  chairs,  and  were  ready  for  a 
lively  time. 

"  Dear !  dear  !  what  shall  I  do  with  them?  " 
she  thought,  glancing  out  of  the  window  as  she 
passed  it.  "  I  must  get  up  something  quiet  to 
amuse  them,"  and  vacantly  her  eyes  wandered 
over  the  scene  outside,  the  whole  world  covered 
with  snow,  and  glittering  in  the  warm  sunshine. 
Something  she  saw  gave  her  the  idea. 

"I  know!  "  she  suddenly  exclaimed,  "that  '11 
do,  I  'm  sure  !  Boys,  let  's  have  a  Christmas 
party." 

"  When  ?  where  ?  Who  '11  we  invite  ?  "  came 
quickly  from  the  pair,  who  left  their  own  play 
at  once. 

"  We  '11  have  it  as  soon  as  we  can  get 
ready,"  said  Grace,  lively  enough  now,  "  and 
we  '11  invite  —  let  me  see,"  she  hesitated,  — 
"  all  the  Grays,  and  the  Browns,  the  Big  Blue, 
and  the  two  Topknots,  and  —  " 

"Oh,  I  know!"  shouted  Harry,  "the 
birds !  " 


158          KRJSTY'S   QUEER   CHRISTMAS 

"  Yes,  the  birds  !  "  said  Grace.  "  You  see, 
the  snow  has  covered  up  everything  they  have 
to  eat,  and  I  'm  sure  they  '11  come  here  on  the 
lawn  where  we  always  feed  them.  There 's  one 
now  —  see  him?  " 

"  I  do  !  "  cried  Willie,  "a  robin !  he  's  wait- 
ing for  crumbs." 

"  Well,  now,  Bobby,"  speaking  to  the  bird 
perched  on  a  low  tree,  and  evidently  looking 
at  them  in  the  window,  "  we  '11  invite  you  to 
dinner,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  birds  out  there," 
—  waving  her  hand  toward  the  woods,  which 
came  quite  near  the  house,  —  "in  about  an 
hour.  Please  tell  everybody  to  come." 

"  Tut !  tut !  "  said  the  robin,  with  a  flirt  of 
his  tail. 

"  Hear  him  answer  you ! "  cried  Harry, 
laughing. 

"Peep!  tut!  tut!  tut!"  went  on  the 
robin. 

"  Yes ;  you  '11  have  to  wait  till  the  table  's 
set,"  said  Grace  in  reply.  "  We  '11  —  boys !  " 
with  a  sudden  thought,  "  we  '11  make  them  a 
Christmas  tree !  You  know  John  got  one  for 


THE  BIRDS'  CHRISTMAS  TREE        159 

us,  that  we  could  n't  use  because  of  Bessie. 
I  '11  get  him  to  cut  it  off,  and  we  '11  fix  it  up 
for  the  birds." 

"  Oh,  what  a  funny  tree  !  "  cried  the  boys; 
"  what  '11  we  put  on  ?  " 

"  You  '11  see,"  said  Grace.  "  I  don't  know 
myself  yet,  but  something  they  '11  like  !  Now 
will  you  sit  still  as  two  mice  while  I  go  and 
see  if  we  can  have  the  tree  ?  " 

They  both  promised,  but  she  took  care  to 
give  them  a  new  picture-book  to  look  at  while 
she  was  gone.  Before  they  had  exhausted  their 
book  she  came  back,  and  John  behind  her 
with  the  tree,  or  rather  the  top  of  it.  He  had 
sawed  it  off  about  four  feet  high,  and  fitted 
it  into  the  standard  made  for  it,  so  that  it 
stood  up  nicely. 

"  Now,  what  shall  we  put  on  ? "  began 
Willie,  tossing  the  book  aside. 

"  Well,  what  do  we  give  the  birds  ?  "  asked 
Grace. 

"Seeds,"  said  Willie,  "and  crumbs  —  and 
-and  —  " 

"  And  bones,"  burst  in  Harry. 


160         KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"  Yes,  and  meat,"  said  Grace. 

"  Meat  ?  "  cried  Harry. 

"  Why,  yes !  does  n't  Bobby  there  eat 
worms  all  summer  on  the  lawn,  and  aren't 
worms  meat,  I  'd  like  to  know  ?  "  said  Grace ; 
"  and  you  know  there  's  lots  of  little  fellows 
eat  meat.  You  remember  little  Quanky,  who 's 
always  going  round  and  round,  knocking  at 
the  doors  and  jerking  out  the  tiny  grubs  in 
the  trees?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Harry,  with  wide-open  eyes, 
"  and  '  Boy  Blue ' !  Don't  you  'member  what 
a  long  worm  he  had  one  day?  longer 'n  he 
was." 

"  An'  '  Foxie,'  't  used  to  jump  so  after 
grasshoppers,"  chimed  in  Willie. 

These  children  knew  so  much  about  birds, 
you  must  know,  because  their  mother  was 
very  fond  of  them,  and  told  the  boys  their 
names,  what  they  ate,  and  many  things  about 
them. 

For  half  an  hour  there  were  three  very  busy 
pairs  of  feet  in  that  house,  as  Grace  and  the 
boys  collected  their  Christmas  gifts ;  but  at 


THE  BIKDS'  CHRISTMAS  TREE       161 

the  end  of  that  time  everything  was  piled 
on  the  library  table,  and  the  work  of  decora- 
tion began.  Little  boxes  made  of  paper  were 
tightly  tied  on  the  branches  in  many  places, 
to  hold  the  seeds;  stems  of  wheat  and  oats 
dried  for  winter  bouquets  were  bound  with 
thread  on  the  ends  of  the  twigs.  Grace  even 
added  some  heavy,  drooping  stems  of  rice  in 
the  shell,  which  Uncle  Ben  had  brought  her 
as  a  curiosity  from  Georgia,  because  she  knew 
a  certain  fellow  in  a  gay  coat  who  especially 
delighted  in  that.  Fresh  raw  beef  that  the 
cook  good-naturedly  cut  from  a  steak  was 
snipped  with  scissors  into  tiny  strips  a  half- 
inch  or  more  long,  and  not  much  bigger  than 
a  pin.  Some  of  these  imitation  worms  were 
wedged  in  among  the  leaves  of  the  tree,  and 
others  tied  loosely  in  a  bundle  and  hung  on  a 
branch.  Two  bones  out  of  the  same  steak 
were  firmly  fastened  to  the  small  trunk  of  the 
tree.  Bunches  of  bitter-sweet  with  bright  red 
berries  were  arranged  among  the  branches. 
Ah1  this,  though  done  by  eager  fingers,  took 
a  long  time,  and  then  Grace  brought  out  a 


162        KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

cupful  of  dried  currants  that  had  been  soak- 
ing in  hot  water  all  this  time.  Now  they  were 
all  plumped  out  and  soft,  and  she  set  the 
happy  and  busy  boys  to  sticking  them  onto 
the  sharp,  needle-like  leaves  of  the  tree. 

This  was  a  slow  operation,  and  very  droll 
that  tree  looked,  I  can  tell  you,  all  blossomed 
out  with  dried  currants.  The  last  thing  was 
to  fill  the  little  boxes  with  hemp  seed,  cracked 
wheat,  coarse  oatmeal,  canary  and  millet  seed, 
and  then,  to  their  great  surprise,  it  was  time 
for  luncheon. 

When  that  was  over  John  was  called  in, 
and  the  whole  thing  carefully  carried  out  and 
placed  on  the  lawn  before  the  window,  just 
where  the  birds  were  used  to  being  fed.  Then 
a  dishful  of  water  was  set  under  the  tree. 

"  Will  they  take  a  bath  ? "  asked  eager 
Harry. 

"  No,  it  's  too  cold,"  said  Grace,  "  but 
they  '11  want  a  drink,  you  know ;  and  now 
we  '11  sit  in  the  window  and  see  who  comes  to 
our  party." 

She  placed  a  chair  for  each. 


THE  BIRDS'  CHRISTMAS  TREE        163 

Hardly  were  they  seated  before  the  fun 
began. 

"  There  comes  Bobby !  "  from  Willie,  an- 
nounced the  first  arrival.  Sure  enough,  a 
robin,  perhaps  the  one  who  had  been  invited, 
alighted  on  a  shrub  beside  this  strange  new 
Christmas  tree.  He  looked  at  it;  he  flirted 
his  tail ;  he  jerked  his  body  and  slapped  his 
wings  down  on  his  sides,  and  at  last  came 
down  on  the  snow  to  see  what  he  could  make 
of  it.  He  ran  all  around  it,  in  little  short 
runs,  stopping  and  lifting  his  head  every 
minute  to  see  if  anything  had  happened  while 
he  was  not  looking.  He  came  closer,  then 
something  caught  his  eye  —  a  bone  !  yes  ; 
he  knew  a  beefsteak  bone ;  he  'd  seen  them 
before ;  he  boldly  pounced  on  the  lowest 
branch,  and  attacked  that  bone  as  if  he  had 
not  eaten  meat  in  a  month.  He  shook  the 
tree  so  that  some  of  the  seeds  were  spilled, 
but  that  did  n't  matter,  the  birds  would  like 
them  just  as  well  from  the  snow. 

The  boys  were  so  taken  up  with  Bobby's 
performances  that  they  had  not  noticed  an- 


164        KRISTY'S   QUEER   CHRISTMAS 

other  arrival,  till  Grace  called  "  chick-a-dees  !  " 
and  there  they  were,  a  little  flock,  all  in  black 
caps  and  white  vests,  as  trim  as  dandies.  They 
flew  back  and  forth  two  or  three  times,  then 
alighted  on  the  snow  around  the  tree,  and 
devoted  themselves  to  picking  up  what  Master 
Bobby  had  scattered.  Very  busy  and  sociable 
they  were  too,  chattering  and  eating  as  fast 
as  they  could  and  calling  their  thanks  in 
lively  "  chick-a-dee-dee's,"  when  they  were 
ready  to  go. 

"  Oh,  who  's  that  ?  "  cried  the  boys,  as  a 
stranger  appeared  on  the  lawn.  He  was  dressed 
in  a  neat  suit  of  bluish  brown,  and  he  gravely 
walked  over  the  snow  to  see  what  the  excite- 
ment was.  He  came  on  in  a  droll,  little  min- 
cing way,  bobbed  his  head  at  every  step,  and 
when  he  reached  the  tree  he  turned  his  funny 
little  head  up  and  looked  at  Bobby  still  work- 
ing away  at  that  bone,  chuckling  to  himself 
as  though  this  was  the  very  oddest  thing  he 
had  seen  yet. 

"That's  a  turtle-dove,"  said  Grace,  when 
she  got  a  good  sight  of  him ;  "  is  n't  he  pretty?  " 


THE  BIRDS'  CHRISTMAS   TREE        165 

"  What  '11  he  eat  ?  "  asked  Bobby. 

"  I  don't  know ;  we  '11  see,"  said  Grace. 
And  they  did ;  for  he  began  to  pick  up  the 
seeds  from  the  snow  in  a  doubtful  way,  as 
though  he  suspected  they  might  be  poisoned. 
But  he  did  not  stay  long,  for  now  came  a  very 
noisy  party  in  rusty  black,  with  faded  red 
shoulder-straps.  There  were  only  three  or  four, 
but  they  made  noise  enough  for  a  dozen.  The 
dove  walked  off  with  great  dignity,  and  Bobby 
took  flight  in  a  hurry. 

One  of  the  newcomers  said  "  Chack !  chack ! " 
another  uttered  a  loud  scream,  and  a  third  said 
"  Whew  !  "  and  they  all  bustled  around  as  if 
they  had  n't  a  minute  to  stay,  and  had  a  great 
deal  to  talk  about.  After  some  little  study  of 
the  tree,  they  pounced  on  it  in  a  body,  and 
the  way  the  eatables  disappeared  in  those  long, 
black  bills  was  alarming. 

"  They  won't  leave  a  thing,"  said  Willie. 

"  See  how  they  shake  the  things  out !  "  said 
Harry. 

"  And  look  at  them  stuffing  themselves  !  " 
added  Willie.  "  Let 's  scare  'em  away  !  " 


166        KRISTY'S   QUEER   CHRISTMAS 

"Why,  what  for?"  said  Grace.  "Didn't 
we  invite  them  all  ?  These  redwings  don't  seem 
to  have  very  fine  table  manners ;  but  they  're 
having  a  good  time  anyway,  and  we  can  fill 
up  the  boxes  again." 

The  redwings  ate  their  fill,  sung  a  song  or 
two,  dipped  freely  into  the  water,  and  then 
left. 

For  a  few  minutes  the  tree  was  deserted, 
and  then  came  a  lisping  group.  They  alighted 
on  the  Christmas  tree  without  fear,  they  fell 
at  once  to  eating  of  the  feast  found  there,  and 
had  a  good  deal  to  say  about  it,  but  never 
a  word  above  a  soft,  hissing  whisper,  —  it  was 
droll  enough.  They  were  very  handsome  in 
olive-colored  dress  with  black  spectacles,  tall 
pointed  caps,  and  brilliant  red  tags  on  their 
wing  feathers. 

"  Cherry  birds  !  "  the  boys  cried. 

"  Cedar  birds,"  said  Grace. 

While  they  were  enjoying  their  silent 
luncheon,  another  guest  came  in,  even  more 
silent,  for  the  three  hosts  in  the  window  did 
not  see  him  till  he  flashed  around  the  trunk 


THE  BIRDS'  CHRISTMAS   TREE        167 

of  the  little  tree,  and  gave  a  long,  rattling 
knock  as  though  he  expected  a  door  to  open 
and  a  grub  to  walk  out. 

"  Oh,  there 's  Downy  !  "  was  announced,  and 
just  that  minute  he  caught  sight  of  one  of  the 
bits  of  meat  cut  to  look  like  tiny  worms.  He 
helped  himself,  and  liked  it  so  well  that  he 
took  another,  and  another,  and  then  rapped 
his  thanks  and  disappeared  the  way  he  had 
come. 

Next  came  down  a  flock  of  sparrows,  chirp- 
ing and  chattering  like  a  party  of  school  chil- 
dren off  on  a  frolic,  —  tree  sparrows  with  red- 
dish caps,  song  sparrows  with  big  black  breast 
knots,  fox  sparrows  that  the  boys  called  Foxie, 
white-throats  with  black  half-mask  and  white 
bow  at  the  throat,  and  all  dressed  in  brown 
with  streaks  everywhere.  They  whirled  around 
the  tree  as  if  to  see  it  on  all  sides,  and  then 
settled  on  the  ground  and  picked  up  the  seeds. 
Then  one  spied  the  meat,  and  hopped  up  on 
the  lowest  branch,  and  another  one  did  so  be- 
cause he  did,  and  in  about  a  minute  the  tree 
could  hardly  be  seen  for  the  sparrows  all  over  it. 


168        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

Oh  !  but  they  had  a  good  time,  and  they  said 
so,  too,  in  their  way,  chirping  and  talking  and 
giving  little  snatches  of  song  by  way  of  thanks ; 
and  just  as  the  boys  began  to  think  there 
would  n't  be  a  thing  left,  they  all  suddenly 
rose  in  a  crowd,  whirled  once  more  around  the 
tree,  and  were  off  out  of  sight  in  a  minute. 

The  next  guest  alighted  on  the  tree  with  a 
flutter,  jerked  his  tail,  which  he  held  cocked 
up  in  the  air,  gave  a  loud  call  or  two,  then 
scolded  all  whom  it  might  concern,  and  fell  to 
eating. 

"  I  know  that 's  a  wren ;  see  his  tail  tipped 
up.  Is  n't  he  funny  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Grace,  "  and  there  's  some  one 
who  does  n't  care  for  his  scolding  —  see  ?  "  and 
she  pointed  to  the  lower  part  of  the  tree. 

"  Quanky  !  Quanky  !  "  called  the  boys,  and 
"  Quank  !  quank  !  "  said  the  little  fellow,  as 
he  circled  around  the  tree  trunk  and  branches, 
till  he  found  that  food  grew  on  the  outside  of 
this  bark  instead  of  inside,  where  he  was  used 
to  finding  it.  He  was  all  in  dull  blue,  and 
Grace  called  him  a  nuthatch. 


THE  BIRDS'  CHRISTMAS  TREE        169 

All  the  afternoon  the  party  of  three  sat 
inside  the  library  window  and  watched  the 
visitors  to  the  Christmas  tree.  Once  or  twice 
the  boxes  were  replenished,  and  everybody  that 
came  seemed  to  get  his  fill.  There  were  flocks 
of  snowbirds  in  black  and  white,  with  tails 
opening  and  shutting  like  fans  ;  a  bluebird 
and  his  little  mate  picked  away  at  the  bones ; 
purple  finches  all  in  red  and  brown,  and  sum- 
mer yellowbirds  in  russet  winter  suits  ;  a  pair 
of  cardinals,  fashionably  late,  ate  their  fill  of 
the  rice,  sitting  in  one  place  and  dropping  the 
shells  all  over  the  snow.  Last  of  all,  after 
everybody  else  had  taken  his  Christmas  pre- 
sent and  gone,  and  the  boys  were  beginning 
to  be  tired  and  wonder  if  supper  was  n't  ready, 
there  arrived  the  oddest  of  all  their  guests. 
He  was  a  big  feUow  all  in  blue  and  white  and 
black,  and  he  came  around  in  the  most  wary 
fashion. 

"  See  the  blue  jay !  "  said  Grace,  and  the 
boys  were  at  once  interested.  He  was  a  long 
time  making  up  his  mind  that  the  tree  was  not 
a  new  sort  of  trap.  He  went  around  it  in  long 


170        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

hops,  turning  his  wise-looking  head  this  way 
and  that,  and  giving  droll  little  hops  up,  if 
anything  moved.  But  when  he  was  satisfied  it 
was  all  right  he  hopped  to  the  lower  branches 
and  proceeded  to  have  a  good  time  in  his  own 
way.  Some  things  he  ate,  but  more  he  threw 
down ;  he  seemed  to  regard  it  as  his  business 
to  clear  the  table.  Seed  boxes  were  hammered 
off,  currants  —  what  few  were  left  that  he 
did  n't  eat  —  he  filled  his  mouth  with,  flew 
down  and  hid  them  under  one  corner  of  the 
standard;  the  empty  wheat-stalks  he  pulled 
off,  likewise  the  bunches  of  bitter-sweet,  from 
which  the  berries  were  eaten. 

"  Oh,  he  '11  pull  everything  off  !  "  cried  the 
boys. 

"  Well,  what  if  he  does  ?  "  said  Grace ;  "  the 
birds  can  eat  from  the  snow,  and  he  's  so  busy 
and  funny  I  like  to  see  him." 

So  they  watched  him  a  long  time,  for  he  had 
a  pretty  big  job.  You  see  he  not  only  wanted 
to  clear  the  tree  completely,  but  his  ardent 
wish  was  to  carry  off  and  hide  every  grain  of 
rice,  and  every  loose  seed.  He  had  to  give  it 


THE   BIRDS'  CHRISTMAS   TREE        171 

up  though,  for  night  came  on  quickly,  as  it 
does  on  Christmas  day,  you  know.  While  they 
watched  him  Mamma  came  in  and  told  them 
that  the  crisis  was  over  and  Bessie  would  get 
well. 

"  And  what  lovely  boys  you  have  been  !  " 
she  added,  as  she  took  one  in  each  arm  and 
went  out  to  supper.  "  And  as  for  you,  Grace," 
she  said  warmly,  "  it  has  been  the  most  useful 
day  of  your  life  —  if  it  was  a  hard  one." 

"  It  was  n't  hard,"  said  Grace  honestly, 
"  only  at  first.  It 's  been  a  lovely  day, 
Mamma." 

"  An'  we  've  had  a  Christmas  party,  an'  lots 
of  folks  came  to  it,"  broke  in  the  boys 
together. 

"  To-morrow  you  shall  tell  me  all  about  it," 
said  Mamma. 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  said  Mr.  Roberts,  "  that 
all  these  stories,  good  as  they  are,  are  about 
girls.  Now  I  shall  tell  one  about  boys.  I 
won't  say  it  will  be  as  fine,  in  fact  the 
boy  was  very  naughty,  but  it  '11  be  a  variety, 


172        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

and  anyway  it 's  the  only  one  I  can   think 
of  —  " 

"  Oh  !  "  interrupted  Kristy,  "  any  one  who 
can  tell  such  lovely  stories  as  you,  may  tell 
just  what  he  likes." 


CHAPTER   XI 

HOW  THE  HORSE  TOLD 

IT  was  the  first  day  of  skating  in  the  village 

of  B ,  and  nearly  the  whole  town  was  out 

to  enjoy  it.  Every  boy  and  girl  fortunate 
enough  to  own  a  pair  of  skates,  and  many 
who  were  forced  to  content  themselves  with 
sliding,  were  there.  The  lake  was  gay  with 
bright  colors,  and  the  air  filled  with  shouts  of 
laughter. 

Towards  evening  there  arose  between  the 
young  people  a  trial  of  speed,  and  a  race  was 
quickly  arranged.  Many  started  together,  but 
soon  all  fell  off,  one  after  another,  till  only 
three  were  left,  the  acknowledged  best  skaters 
in  the  village  :  Kittie  Manton,  a  bright  girl, 
and  a  great  favorite  among  the  schoolboys, 
and  two  boys  who  were  equally  anxious  to 
keep  up  with  her,  and  to  beat  each  other. 
They  were  about  evenly  matched,  but  Phil 


174        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

Bartlett  happened  to  wear  a  pair  of  bright 
new  skates,  and  in  spite  of  his  opponent's 
strongest  efforts,  he  went  ahead,  and  kept 
there. 

The  sport  was  put  an  end  to  by  a  snow- 
storm, and  the  lake  was  quickly  deserted.  The 
skating  contest  was  all  in  fun,  of  course,  and 
no  one  thought  of  having  any  feeling  about 
it,  except  the  boy  who  was  beaten.  Harry 
Carter  was  rather  an  important  personage,  in 
his  own  estimation,  and  he  went  away  in  a 
furious  rage. 

"  The  mean  sneak ! "  he  muttered  to  him- 
self, as  he  stalked  off  towards  home,  his  skates 
dangling  over  his  shoulder,  "  just  because  he 
had  on  new  skates!  He  can't  beat  me  in  a 
fair  trial,  and  he  knows  it !  I  wonder  where 
he  got  those  Clubs,  anyway  —  his  father 's  as 
poor  as  Job's  turkey.  I  '11  pay  him  off,  any- 
way. I  'd  like  to  put  a  few  nicks  in  those 
new  skates,  and  then  see  him  try  to  beat  me 
again  !  "  So  he  went  on  —  this  foolish  youth 
—  his  mind  filled  with  thoughts  of  revenge. 

Evil  designs  ripen  quickly,  and  before  bed- 


HOW  THE  HORSE  TOLD  175 

time  Harry  had  thought  of  a  plan  which  he 
meant  to  carry  out  that  very  night. 

Phil  Bartlett  was  the  son  of  a  farmer,  and 
lived  about  two  miles  from  the  village.  After 
he  thought  every  one  was  in  bed  in  the  quiet 
town,  Harry  Carter  stole  out  of  his  window 
onto  the  top  of  a  piazza,  climbed  down  the 
trellis,  to  the  injury  of  some  vines  which  grew 
over  it,  and  took  his  way  to  the  stable.  He 
dared  not  touch  one  of  the  carriage  horses, 
for  his  father  was  very  particular  about  them, 
and  very  observing,  but  neither  did  he  intend 
walking  two  miles  into  the  country,  even  to 
be  revenged.  His  father  had  a  superannuated 
horse  called  Ned,  kept  solely  for  the  purpose 
of  dragging  barrels  of  water  from  the  spring 
at  the  back  of  the  lot  which  supplied  the 
house. 

No  one  would  notice  whether  Ned  was  used 
or  not — so  reasoned  Harry — and  Ned  should 
carry  him  out  to  the  Bartlett  farm.  The  old 
horse  was  soon  saddled  and  brought  out, 
though  not  without  some  difficulty ;  for  the 
intelligent  animal  knew  as  well  as  Harry  did 


176        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

that  night  was  his  time  to  rest.  However,  out 
he  was  finally  driven,  and  Harry  mounted 
and  rode  out  of  the  yard. 

On  ordinary  occasions  he  would  not  have 
enjoyed  a  midnight  ride  through  the  lonely 
woods,  but  now  he  was  too  angry  to  care 
for  anything,  however  unpleasant.  When  he 
reached  Bartlett's,  he  found  the  gate  open 
into  the  yard,  and  he  rode  directly  in,  turning 
one  side  away  from  the  house,  and  off  from 
the  road,  and  tied  Ned  to  a  tree  near. 

Harry's  long  ride  had  somewhat  cooled  his 
rage,  and  as  he  opened  the  side-door  of  the 
farmhouse,  which  was  never  locked,  the  thought 
struck  him  that  his  proceeding  was  very  much 
like  that  of  a  burglar.  The  notion  of  Squire 
Carter's  son  being  a  burglar  tickled  his  fancy 
so  much  that  he  had  to  smother  a  laugh. 

"  Now  where  shall  I  look  for  the  confounded 
skates  ?  "  he  thought,  as  he  fumbled  around 
the  walls  of  the  passageway.  "  I  wonder 
where  Phil  sleeps  ?  Would  n't  it  be  a  joke  to 
take  them  right  out  from  under  his  very  nose  ! 
No  doubt  he  sleeps  with  them  beside  him, 


HOW  THE  HORSE  TOLD  177 

they  're  so  precious  !  "  he  added  sneeringly, 
his  anger  of  the  afternoon  rising  in  his  heart 
again. 

Just  at  the  moment  his  groping  hand  fell 
on  the  skates,  hanging  from  a  peg  among 
coats  and  hats. 

"  Jolly !  that 's  lucky ! "  he  thought,  running 
his  hand  over  them,  to  be  sure  that  they  were 
the  new  ones.  "  He  must  have  known  I  was 
coming,  and  hung  'em  here  handy  !  I  '11  soon 
fix  you ! "  he  went  on,  "  and  I  've  a  good 
mind  to  carry  off  the  beggar's  coat  and  hat 
too,  just  to  keep  him  at  home  awhile ;  the  skat- 
ing won't  last  long,  and  it  '11  be  good  for  his 
precious  health."  With  this,  not  stopping  to 
give  it  a  second  thought,  he  snatched  a  coat 
and  a  fur  cap  which  he  well  knew  was  Phil's, 
stole  softly  out,  and  closed  the  door.  The 
garments  he  thought  he  would  hide  for  a 
day  or  two,  and  then  write  a  note,  anony- 
mously, to  tell  where  they  might  be  found  j 
but  the  skates  he  must  injure  seriously.  A 
few  sharp  blows  across  a  stone  that  he  had 
noticed  where  he  tied  his  horse,  made  them 


178        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

for  the*  time,  at  least,  if  not  forever,  quite  use- 
less. He  then  gave  them  a  fling  towards  the 
house,  not  wishing  to  take  the  trouble  to  re- 
store them  to  their  peg. 

The  coat  and  hat  he  carried  off  a  half  mile 
on  his  way  home,  to  a  deserted  barn  he  knew 
of,  and  threw  them  into  a  window.  He  knew 
no  one  would  be  likely  to  go  to  the  building, 
and  when  he  had  had  enough  sport  out  of  it, 
he  could  easily  let  Phil  know  where  they  were 
to  be  found. 

Having  thus  completed  his  mischief,  he 
hurried  home,  urging  old  Ned  into  a  pace  that 
he  seldom  indulged  in,  in  his  old  age.  He 
put  the  tired  horse  into  the  stable,  and  at  last, 
towards  morning,  climbed  the  trellis  again,  and 
crept  into  bed. 

As  the  school  bell  rang  the  next  morning, 
and  Harry  went  in  with  the  other  scholars,  he 
chuckled  at  the  idea  that  Master  Phil  would 
stay  at  home  to-day,  and  he  smiled  as  he 
pictured  his  rage.  What  then  was  his  amaze- 
ment to  see  Phil  in  his  usual  seat,  hard  at 
work  with  his  books.  He  did  not  look  up,  and 


HOW  THE  HORSE  TOLD  179 

Harry  began  to  fear  that  he  had  not  yet  dis- 
covered the  accident  to  his  skates,  and  that  he 
himself  must  have  dreamed  about  the  coat  and 
cap.  When  out  at  recess,  he  saw  that  Phil 
wore  a  different  cap,  but  no  other  sign  could 
he  discover  that  his  revenge  had  been  taken. 
But  although  Phil  looked  calm,  there  was  a 
tempest  under  his  quiet  face.  He  was  only 
waiting  for  the  proper  time,  to  speak  out.  On 
getting  up  that  morning  early,  as  he  always 
did,  he  had  been  unable  to  resist  one  glance 
at  the  beloved  skates.  A  new  pair  of  skates  to 
Harry  Carter  meant  simply  going  to  a  store 
and  buying  them,  but  to  Phil  Bartlett  they 
meant  months  of  saving  money,  and  hours  of 
extra  work.  This  pair  was  the  result  of  a 
whole  summer's  self-denial  and  saving,  and  he 
valued  them  accordingly.  He  did  not  find 
them  in  their  usual  place,  and  a  quick  search 
revealed  the  fact  that  his  cap  was  also  gone. 
To  get  more  light,  he  opened  the  door.  The 
light  snow  on  the  ground,  which  had  ceased  be- 
fore Harry  came  out,  showed  footprints  and 
suggested  to  Phil  that  a  thief  had  been  around. 


180        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

Careful  not  to  step  on  the  tracks,  he  went 
out,  and  near  the  door  came  upon  the  ruined 
skates.  A  cry  of  horror  escaped  him  as  he 
gathered  them  up,  and  now  with  greatest  care 
— for  it  was  his  only  clue  to  the  perpetrator — 
he  followed  the  trail.  The  footprints  led  di- 
rectly to  a  tree,  where  he  found  the  tracks  of 
a  horse,  and  the  dents  in  the  stone  where  the 
skates  had  been  injured. 

Following  the  horse's  tracks,  which  were 
perfectly  clear  and  distinct,  he  came  to  the 
road,  and  there  they  turned  towards  the  vil- 
lage, and  were  lost.  A  groan  fell  from  his  lips 
at  this  point.  "  I  shall  never  find  him !  "  he 
thought.  Yet  in  looking  closer  he  noticed 
something  unusual  in  the  footprints  of  the 
horse.  He  stooped  to  examine,  and  made  the 
curious  discovery  that  no  two  of  the  horse's 
feet  were  in  the  same  condition.  Of  the  forefeet 
one  shoe  was  loose  and  the  other  was  smooth, 
as  he  could  easily  see  from  the  track ;  and  of 
the  hind  feet  one  had  a  shoe  that  was  broken 
and  the  other  had  no  shoe  at  all. 

Getting  these  facts  carefully  in  his  mind, 


HOW  THE  HORSE  TOLD  181 

Phil  went  back  to  the  house  and  called  his 
father,  who  also  examined  the  trail,  and  then, 
finding  his  coat  gone  from  its  usual  peg,  put 
on  another,  and  started  for  the  village  to  see 
lawyer  James,  telling  Phil  to  go  to  school  as 
usual,  while  he  worked  the  thing  up. 

Near  the  village  he  found  a  cast  horseshoe, 
with  which  he  at  once  went  to  the  village 
blacksmith,  who  made  all  the  horseshoes  for 
the  neighborhood.  A  little  questioning  brought 
out  the  fact  that  the  stray  shoe  belonged  to 
Squire  Carter's  Ned,  and  an  examination  of 
the  horse's  feet  confirmed  his  statement,  and 
also  proved  that  Ned  was  the  horse  who  had 
left  his  tracks  in  Mr.  Bartlett's  yard.  The 
broken  vines,  and  the  disordered  state  of  the 
snow  on  the  roof,  were  scarcely  needed  to  point 
out  the  culprit. 

The  working  out  of  all  this,  and  consulting 
with  the  lawyer,  took  time,  and  school  was 
about  being  dismissed  before  it  was  brought 
to  a  conclusion.  Perhaps  no  one  was  ever  more 
confounded  than  Harry  Carter,  when,  on  leav- 
ing the  schoolroom  that  morning,  he  found 


182        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

himself  face  to  face  with  the  village  constable, 
who  arrested  him  on  the  charge  of  theft,  in 
sight  of  the  whole  school. 

"  It 's  false !  "  shouted  Harry,  white  with 
rage.  "  Who  says  so  ?  Prove  it !  " 

"  It  is  easily  proved,"  said  the  officer.  "  You 
were  tracked  to  the  door  of  the  house  from 
your  own  window." 

"I  admit,"  said  Harry  haughtily,  noticing 
Phil's  eager  face  in  the  crowd  which  gathered 
around  them,  "  that  I  went  out  to  be  revenged, 
and  to  spoil  a  pair  of  skates,  but  I  'm  not  a 
burglar  —  I  did  n't  break  into  a  house." 

"Not  strictly,"  said  the  man,  "for  the 
house  was  not  locked,  but  you  are  arrested  for 
stealing." 

"  I  never  did  !  "  shouted  Harry  again,  furi- 
ous at  this  charge. 

"  There 's  a  coat  and  hat  gone,"  said  the 
officer  quietly. 

Harry  had  forgotten  them  ;  a  scornful  smile 
crept  over  his  face. 

"  That  was  a  joke  ;  they  're  in  Johnson's 
barn;  I  was  going  to  write  a  note,  telling 


HOW  THE  HORSE  TOLD  183 

where  they  could  be  found,  to-morrow  or  next 
day." 

"  The  law  recognizes  no  jokes,"  said  the 
constable.  "  You  entered  the  house  at  night, 
and  carried  away  property,  whatever  your  mo- 
tive. You  '11  have  to  prove  it  a  joke  —  if  you 
can  —  before  the  Justice,  and  anyway  I  can't 
stay  here  talking.  You  '11  have  to  go,  and  you 
had  better  go  quietly,  or  —  "  and  he  made  a 
significant  gesture,  which  convinced  Harry 
that  he  meant  what  he  said.  It  did  begin  to 
look  like  stealing  now,  and  Harry's  face  fell. 

He  was  followed  by  all  the  boys  in  school, 
as  he  marched  to  the  room  where  the  Justice 
was  found,  and  in  shame  and  mortification 
heard  the  whole  story  of  his  night's  exploit 
related  by  Phil.  It  was  corroborated  by  Mr. 
Bartlett,  and  also  by  his  father's  stableman, 
who  had  to  acknowledge  finding  the  old  horse 
tired  out,  for  he  was  not  used  of  late  even  to 
four-mile  journeys,  and  to  recognize  the  miss- 
ing shoe. 

The  best  witness,  however,  was  Ned  him- 
self;  for  on  being  taken  out  to  the  farm  by 


184        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

Squire  Carter,  -who  refused  to  believe  in  his 
son's  guilt  till  he  had  inspected  the  evidences 
for  himself,  the  intelligent  animal,  when  the 
lines  were  left  loose,  turned  of  his  own  accord 
into  the  gate,  and  leaving  the  beaten  path, 
turned  one  side  and  came  to  a  halt  under  the 
tree.  The  evidence  was  irresistible,  and  the 
horse  was  the  one  who  told,  with  his  unusual 
tracks  and  this  conclusive  conduct. 

Squire  Carter,  mortified  and  angry  at  the 
foolish  performance  of  his  son,  resolved  to  give 
him  a  good  lesson,  that  should  cure  him  of 
any  desire  to  take  the  law  into  his  own  hands 
again.  He  first  let  him  spend  one  night,  which 
was  Christmas  eve,  in  the  jail  to  give  him  time 
to  think  about  it ;  and  then  he  settled  the  mat- 
ter by  the  payment  of  quite  a  large  sum  of 
money. 

Even  that  was  not  the  end,  for  to  make 
sure  that  the  lesson  was  well  learned,  and  his 
somewhat  hot-headed  son  thoroughly  cured 
of  malicious  mischief,  he  insisted  upon  Harry's 
paying  the  amount  of  the  costs  from  his  own 
money. 


HOW  THE  HORSE  TOLD  185 

Now  this  was  worse  than  all.  For  a  year 
Harry  had  been  saving  his  money  —  as  well  as 
Phil  —  but  not  for  a  paltry  pair  of  skates. 
His  aim  and  the  desire  of  his  heart  was  to  own 
a  yacht,  in  which  to  navigate  the  waters  of  a 
beautiful  lake  near  the  village.  He  was  expert 
in  the  management  of  boats,  and  delighted  in 
them  more  than  in  any  other  thing,  and  he  had 
collected  nearly  the  amount  necessary  to  make 
the  purchase. 

More  than  this :  he  had  selected  his  boat, 
and  induced  the  owner  to  wait  a  week  more, 
till  his  next  allowance  should  complete  the  sum 
asked  for  it ;  he  had  talked  about  it  with  all 
the  boys,  fixed  upon  a  new  name  for  it,  and 
even  asked  Kittie  Manton  to  confer  it  as  soon 
as  the  spring  should  open  and  the  season 
begin.  He  almost  felt  that  the  yacht  was 
his  own. 

And  now  —  it  was  almost  like  drawing  his 
heart  from  his  body ;  but  his  father  sternly  in- 
sisted that  he  should  give  every  cent  of  that 
precious  money  to  farmer  Bartlett,  to  settle 
the  affair  without  a  trial  and  imprisonment. 


186         KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

It  was  many  years  before  Harry  Carter  could 
thank  his  upright  father  for  this  act  which 
seemed  so  cruel  at  the  time,  but  he  did  at  last ; 
and  he  admitted  —  after  he  had  grown  to  re- 
spected manhood  —  that  it  had  put  an  end  to 
his  boyish  desire  to  be  revenged. 

"  We  '11  have  to  go  back  to  the  girls  if  I 
tell  the  only  queer  story  I  know  of  Christmas," 
said  Miss  Kate.  "  This  is  about  one  whom  we 
all  know,  Aunt  Jane's  pretty  niece  Bessie. 
Aunt  Jane  told  it  to  me  herself  several  years 
ago.  It  happened  when  Bessie  first  came  to 
her." 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  CAT'S  CHARM 

ONE  day  Aunt  Jane  and  her  niece  were  sit- 
ting quietly  at  work,  when  there  came  a  long, 
pitiful  mew  at  the  kitchen  door. 

"  There 's  that  cat  again  !  "  cried  Aunt  Jane 
excitedly.  "  Go  drive  her  out,  Elizabeth  !  This 
minute  !  Quick  !  " 

A  pale,  thin  child,  about  ten  years  old,  rose 
slowly  from  a  low  seat  by  the  window,  where 
she  was  sewing,  and  started  for  the  door. 

"  Be  lively,  now !  I  believe  you  've  got  lead 
in  your  feet!  I  never  saw  a  child  of  your 
age  so  slow,"  went  on  Aunt  Jane.  The  child 
hastened  and  disappeared  through  the  back 
door,  while  Aunt  Jane  resumed  her  knitting. 

"  I  certainly  don't  know  what  I  shall  do 
with  that  child,"  she  said  to  herself,  as  her 
needles  flew  in  and  out  of  the  coarse  gray  yarn 
she  was  fashioning  into  a  sock  for  the  poor 


188         KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

of  next  winter.  "  Such  a  mope  I  never  saw  !  — 
the  very  sight  of  her  gives  me  the  blues.  If 
she  was  nice  and  bright  now,  she  'd  be  almost 
a  comfort  to  me ;  but  she  grows  stupid  and 
dumb  every  day,  till  now  she  scarcely  opens 
her  lips  from  morning  to  night.  I  'm  sure  I 
don't  know  why;  I've  tried  hard  enough  to 
do  my  duty  by  her ;  she  wants  nothing.  — 
But  I  wonder  why  she  does  n't  come  back  ?  " 
she  went  on,  after  a  pause,  at  the  same  time 
stepping  towards  the  door  to  look  after  her 
charge.  As  she  opened  the  door  the  child's 
voice  fell  on  her  ear,  and  its  tone  made  her 
pause.  It  was  very  different  from  the  dull 
voice  she  knew,  and  then  the  words  amazed  her. 

"  Dear  pussy,"  she  heard,  in  a  tender,  low 
tone,  "  I  'm  so  sorry,  but  you  must  go  home  ! 
Aunt  Jane  '  hates  cats,'  and  I  dare  n't  have 
you  come  here.  I  'm  afraid  she  '11  throw  some- 
thing at  you ! " 

The  listener  stepped  a  little  nearer  to  look 
through  a  window,  when  she  saw  the  child 
seated  on  the  step,  with  an  ugly  yellow  cat  in 
her  arms,  and  actually  hugged  to  her  heart. 


THE  CAT'S  CHARM  189 

"  Oh,  dear  kitty  !  "  the  little  voice  went  on 
•with  a  sob,  "  you  remind  me  so  much  of  my 
own  darling  kitty,  that  I  had  to  leave  at  home 
when  Papa  died,  and  I  want  her  so  !  She  loved 
me  dearly.  I  wonder  if  she 's  forgotten  me!  " 
The  little  face  went  down  in  the  yellow  fur, 
and  the  affectionate  cat  purred  and  rubbed 
against  her  cheek,  trying  its  best  to  console 
her.  In  a  moment  the  child  raised  her  head. 

"  I  dare  n't  stay  any  longer,  dearest  kitty. 
I  have  n't  got  my  '  stint '  done,  and  Aunt  Jane 
'  hates  idlers.'  Good-by,  darling  "  —  and  she 
kissed  the  cat,  carefully  lifted  her  over  the 
low  fence,  and  dropped  her  lightly  onto  her 
own  steps,  while  Aunt  Jane  hastily  slipped 
back  to  her  seat,  and  began  to  knit  furiously. 
When,  a  moment  later,  the  child  came  in  with 
the  old  weary  step,  she  saw  nothing  unusual 
about  her  aunt,  and  she  sat  down  on  her  stool 
again  and  took  up  her  work. 

But  there  was  something  unusual  in  Aunt 
Jane,  though  it  did  not  show  outside ;  there 
was  commotion  in  her  mind ;  she  had  received 
a  new  idea,  and  it  was  working.  Her  lips 


190        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

were  pursed  up  as  usual,  and  her  needles  flew 
faster  than  ever,  but  something  like  this  was 
passing  in  her  thoughts  : 

"  Really,  the  child  is  unhappy !  I  wonder 
why !  I  thought  I  had  done  everything  for 
her !  We  two  are  the  last  of  the  family,  and 
ought  to  be  a  comfort  to  each  other."  Here 
she  moved  her  chair  a  little,  and  glanced  at 
the  child.  Bessie  was  bending  over  her  work, 
but  her  hands  moved  slowly,  and  her  eyes 
were  heavy  and  dull. 

"  I  suppose  she 's  lonely,"  was  Aunt  Jane's 
next  thought,  "and  perhaps  she  misses  her 
old  friends,"  she  went  on  more  slowly.  "  How 
she  did  talk  to  that  cat !  As  if  she  loved  it ! 
—  Well,  I  suppose  a  child  needs  to  love  some- 
thing, if  it  is  only  a  cat.  I  wonder  if  I  've  been 
too  hard  with  her  ?  I  've  lived  alone  so  long, 
maybe  I  expect  too  much.  Elizabeth!" — this 
last  aloud. 

The  child  started,  and  looked  up  quickly. 

"What  makes  you  start  so  when  I  speak?  " 
said  Aunt  Jane  sharply.  "  I  don't  bite." 

"I  —  I  —  never    was    called    Elizabeth," 


THE   CAT'S  CHARM  191 

stammered  the  child,  "  except  when  I  was 
naughty." 

"  What  were  you  called,  then  ?  Elizabeth 
is  your  name,  I  believe." 

"Yes,  but  I  was  always  Bessie  at  home," 
said  she  timidly. 

"  Humph  !  "  said  Aunt  Jane,  "  I  don't  ap- 
prove of  nicknames." 

"  Papa  always  called  me  so,"  said  Bessie, 
with  a  little  tremble  in  her  voice. 

Aunt  Jane  rubbed  her  nose.  Bessie's  father 
had  been  her  favorite  brother,  and  his  doing 
anything  used  to  be  the  best  of  reasons  for 
her  doing  it.  But  she  went  on. 

"  What  did  you  do  at  home  ?  " 

Bessie  looked  up  questioningly. 

"  Did  you  sew  ?  or  play  all  the  tune  ?  or 
what  did  you  do  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  —  I  went  to  school  most  always,"  said 
the  child,  her  face  brightening  as  thoughts  of 
"  home  "  grew  on  her,  "  and  I  sewed  some  — 
I  made  Papa  two  beautiful  handkerchiefs  !  — 
and  I  picked  the  berries  for  tea ;  and  —  and 
—  I  played  a  good  deal  in  the  yard." 


192        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"Did  you  have  a  nice  yard?"  asked  Aunt 
Jane. 

"  Oh,  beautiful!  "  cried  Bessie  enthusiastic- 
ally, "  so  large  and  shady  —  and  such  green 
grass  —  and  I  had  a  swing  under  the  apple- 
tree,  and  —  and  —  "  She  stopped  short. 

"  And  what  ?  "  said  Aunt  Jane. 

"  And  —  I  wish  I  was  dead,  too  !  —  I  do  — 
I  do  ! "  burst  out  poor  Bessie,  with  a  flood  of 
tears,  "  and  now  I  know  you  '11  hate  me  worse 
than  ever ! "  and  throwing  down  her  work, 
she  ran  hastily  out  of  the  room,  up-stairs  to 
her  own  bedroom. 

Aunt  Jane  sat  as  if  stunned,  for  a  mo- 
ment. 

"  Hate  her  worse  than  ever  !  "  she  said  at 
last.  "  What  does  the  child  mean  ?  Why 
should  she  think  I  *  hate  her '  ?  " 

A  long  time  she  sat  there  thinking.  The 
knitting  lay  idle  on  her  lap ;  the  clock  rapidly 
ticked  away  the  minutes  into  hours ;  the  fire 
gradually  burned  down  ;  all  unnoticed  by  this 
most  systematic  housekeeper.  Back  to  her 
own  childhood  traveled  her  busy  thoughts : 


THE  CAT'S  CHARM  193 

old  memories,  old  hopes,  stirred  in  her  heart, 
and  her  reverie  was  long  and  deep. 

"  Well,  I  believe  that 's  the  l  charm/  and 
I  '11  try  it !  "  she  said  aloud  at  last,  and  com- 
ing out  of  her  brown  study,  she  glanced  at 
the  clock. 

"  Six  o'clock,  as  I  'm  alive  !  and  not  a  thing 
done  about  tea  !  "  She  sprang  from  her  seat, 
sending  the  coarse  sock  and  its  big  gray  ball 
across  the  room,  and  upsetting  her  footstool 
with  a  crash.  Things  were  lively  for  a  few 
minutes  in  that  pleasant  room,  while  she 
mended  the  fire,  put  on  the  kettle,  drew  out  a 
small  round  table,  and  began  to  spread  it  for 
tea.  In  less  time  than  one  would  think  pos- 
sible, the  kettle  was  boiling  and  the  tea  put 
on ;  the  table  set,  and  all  things  ready.  She 
then  went  to  the  door  and  called  "  Bessie  !  " 

The  child  had  cried  herself  quiet  long  be- 
fore, and  was  now  sitting  on  the  edge  of  her 
bed,  alarmed  at  the  growing  darkness,  and 
fearing  her  aunt  would  never  forgive  her 
naughty  words.  "  She  must  have  had  tea  long 
ago,"  she  thought, "  and  I  don't  believe  she 's 


194         KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

going  to  let  me  have  any;  and  how  can  I  live 
here  any  longer  !  " 

This  thought  was  interrupted  by  the  call  of 
"  Bessie."  Her  heart  leaped  within  her.  She 
rushed  to  the  door. 

"What,  ma'am?" 

"  Come  to  tea,  child,"  said  Aunt  Jane 
pleasantly.  Bessie  could  hardly  believe  her 
ears,  but  she  crept  softly  down-stairs.  The 
neat  kitchen  was  light  and  cheerful,  the  tea 
steamed  on  the  table,  and  beside  the  usual 
snowy  bread  stood  a  dish  of  marmalade,  her 
favorite  sweetmeat,  which  she  had  often  looked 
longingly  at,  on  Aunt  Jane's  top  shelf. 

Now  pleasant  tones  are  comforting,  and  so 
is  marmalade,  each  in  its  own  way,  and  a  smile 
stole  to  her  lips  as  she  took  her  seat  opposite 
her  aunt. 

"Really,"  thought  that  lady,  looking  at  the 
brightening  face,  "the  cat's  charm  works 
quickly." 

"  Bessie,  will  you  have  some  marmalade  ?  " 

"Yes,  if  you  please,  Aunt  Jane,"  said  Bessie. 

When  tea  was  over,  Bessie  offered  to  help 


THE  CAT'S  CHARM  195 

wash  the  dishes,  for  —  as  you  have  seen  — 
Aunt  Jane  was  a  country-bred,  old-fashioned 
Yankee  housekeeper,  who  couldn't  endure  a 
"  shiftless  servant  girl  "  about  her.  Bessie  had 
never  offered  to  help  before,  and  now  she  was 
very  careful  as  she  handled  the  dainty  old 
china,  which  was  an  heirloom,  and  more  pre- 
cious than  gold  in  Aunt  Jane's  eyes.  "  You 
see,  Bessie,"  said  she,  as  she  showed  her  how 
to  delicately  rinse  each  frail  cup  and  gently 
dry  it  on  the  soft  old  damask,  "this  china  was 
your  grandmother's,  and  it  '11  be  yours  when 
I  am  dead.  None  but  ladies  have  ever  washed 
a  piece  of  it,  and  not  a  piece  is  broken  or  lost. 
It 's  worth  its  weight  in  gold  nearly,  now  that 
old  things  are  so  fashionable ;  but  I  'd  as 
soon  think  of  selling  my  eyes  as  the  dear  old 
china.  I  hope  you  '11  learn  to  love  it  as  I  do. 
I  can't  bear  the  thought  of  having  it  leave  the 
family." 

"  Oh  !  I  'm  sure,  Aunt,"  said  Bessie,  hap- 
pily, "  if  it  is  ever  mine,  I  '11  take  the  best  care 
of  it." 

After  tea  was  cleared  away,  Aunt  Jane  took 


196         KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

her  knitting,  and  Bessie  her  school-books,  and 
not  a  word  was  spoken  till  the  clock  struck 
nine,  and  the  child  closed  her  books  to  go  to 
bed. 

"  Bessie,"  said  her  aunt,  "  did  n't  you  ask 
me,  when  you  first  came  here,  to  let  you  send 
for  your  cat  ?  " 

"  Yes  'm,"  said  Bessie,  surprised. 

"  Well,  I  've  thought  of  it,  and  concluded 
to  let  you  have  it." 

"  Why !  —  I  thought  you  hated  cats,"  burst 
from  the  astonished  Bessie. 

"  Well,  my  dear,  I  do  in  general ;  but  I  see 
you  are  lonely,  and  I  'm  going  to  try  having 
a  companion  for  you.  I  think  a  cat  will  be  less 
trouble  than  a  child." 

"  And  so  much  nicer ! "  broke  in  Bessie. 
"  Oh  !  I  '11  be  so  glad,  Aunt  Jane !  —  and  I 
most  know  you  '11  like  her  —  she 's  so  beauti- 
ful !  —  and  not  a  bit  of  trouble." 

Aunt  Jane  smiled.  "  Well,  I  '11  try  it  for 
once." 

That  night  a  letter  was  written  to  an  old 
neighbor,  who  had  promised  to  send  the  cat 


THE  CAT'S  CHARM  197 

when  Bessie  wrote  for  it,  and  the  next  morn- 
ing a  bright-faced  girl  —  quite  different  from 
"Elizabeth" — took  it  to  the  post  office  her- 
self. 

A  week  rolled  by  —  Aunt  Jane's  "  charm  " 
still  worked  well ;  and  much  to  her  surprise 
that  good  lady  found  that  it  not  only  made 
Bessie  happy,  but  reacted  on  herself,  and  cre- 
ated a  new  warmth  about  her  heart.  Smiles 
began  to  grow  common  around  her  mouth,  and 
altogether  —  so  wonderful  is  that  "  charm  "  — 
the  whole  house  seemed  to  grow  brighter  and 
warmer. 

One  night,  Christmas  eve  it  was,  something 
queer  happened.  They  had  gone  to  bed,  and 
Aunt  Jane  was  roused  out  of  her  first  doze 
by  a  strange  noise.  She  lifted  her  head  and 
listened.  It  seemed  to  be  coming  down  the 
street,  and  was  like  nothing  she  had  ever  heard. 
It  grew  louder ;  she  sat  up  in  bed  to  hear  bet- 
ter, and  at  the  same  moment  a  door  softly 
opened,  and  a  white,  scared  face  peered  in. 

"  Oh,  Auntie !  What  is  that  awful  noise  ?  " 
came  trembling  from  Bessie's  lips. 


198         KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"  I  don't  know,  child,"  said  her  aunt,  "  but 
come  in  here ;  we  '11  soon  see,  for  it 's  coming 
nearer." 

Nearer  it  came.  The  most  hideous  wails  and 
cries,  like  a  crowd  of  people  in  direst  agony. 
Bessie  crept  into  her  aunt's  bed  in  terror, 
while  the  sounds  came  ever  nearer,  accompa- 
nied by  the  noise  of  a  wagon,  driven  fran- 
tically down  the  street.  At  last,  opposite  the 
door,  the  wagon  seemed  to  stop,  and  the  mys- 
terious sounds  were  frightful.  Aunt  Jane 
slipped  out  of  bed,  and  peeped  through  the 
blinds. 

"  Oh,  what  is  it  ?  "  gasped  Bessie. 

"  It  seems  to  be  a  wagon,"  said  Aunt  Jane, 
"  with  a  box  !  He  is  taking  it  out !  —  and 
bringing  it  into  my  yard  !  What  in  the  world ! 
—  I'll  stop  it! — I  won't  have  it!"  and 
she  turned  hastily  to  seize  her  wrapper.  At 
that  instant  came  a  dreadful  peal  of  the  door- 
bell, and  the  wagon  drove  furiously  off,  while 
the  sounds  came  with  fearful  distinctness. 

"  Oh,  what  '11  you  do  ?  "  cried  Bessie,  half 
dead  with  terror. 


THE  CAT'S  CHARM  199 

"  Go  and  see  what  it  is,"  said  Aunt  Jane 
resolutely,  hunting  about  for  slippers  and 
matches,  and  everything  that  is  always  out  of 
the  way  when  needed. 

"  I  'm  afraid  to  stay  alone,"  sobbed  Bessie. 

"  Then  come  along,"  said  Aunt  Jane 
grimly,  as  she  started  down  the  stairs. 

Out  of  bed  sprang  the  child,  and  followed 
close  at  her  heels.  On  the  stairway  Aunt  Jane 
lighted  the  gas,  and  then  proceeded  to  draw 
bolt  and  bar  which  held  the  door. 

"  Oh,  Aunt  Jane  !  I  'm  so  frightened  !  " 
whispered  Bessie. 

"  Well,  then  stand  behind  me,"  said  Aunt 
Jane  hurriedly,  as  she  turned  the  knob.  The 
door  unclosed  a  little.  "  Who  's  there  ?  "  she 
asked. 

For  reply  came  a  louder,  nearer,  more  hor- 
rible wail  —  nothing  else. 

Bessie  screamed,  but  something  familiar  in 
the  sound  seemed  to  strike  Aunt  Jane. 

"  Why,  goodness  gracious  !  it 's  cats  !  " 
she  cried.  "  Some  bad  boys  have  done  it, 
knowing  that  I  hate  cats." 


200         KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

.  "  But  why  do  they  cry  so  ?  "  asked  Bessie, 
still  more  than  half  afraid. 

"  Must  be  starved,"  said  Aunt  Jane,  "  but 
what  can  I  do  ?  I  can't  leave  them  here  yowl- 
ing all  night." 

"  Oh,  Auntie  !  "  exclaimed  Bessie,  a  thought 
striking  her,  "  could  it  be  my  cat  ?  but  she 
never  made  such  a  noise." 

"  Well  —  well  —  like  enough  !  "  said  Aunt 
Jane,  "and  she  has  n't  been  fed  !  —  But  there 
must  be  a  dozen  in  that  box.  Anyway,  we  '11 
see !  "  and  taking  hold  of  a  rope  handle, 
she  hastily  dragged  the  box  into  the  hall  and 
closed  the  door. 

The  top  of  the  box  was  slats,  and  between 
them  could  be  seen  a  dark  moving  mass,  with 
many  paws  grasping  the  slats,  now  and  then 
a  lashing  tail  pressing  through,  and  fiery  eyes 
glaring  everywhere. 

Bessie  peered  anxiously  in. 

"  They  're  the  same  color  as  mine  —  mal- 
tese  —  and  there  !  I  see  a  white  nose  !  I  do 
believe  it 's  Muff  !  Muff  —  poor  Muff  !  poor 
pussy !  "  she  went  on  caressingly.  A  face 


THE  CAT'S   CHARM  201 

came  close  to  the  bars,  and  a  long  pitiful 
"  mew  "  replied. 

"  Oh,  it  is  Muff !  You  dear  old  darling  ! " 
she  cried.  "  Oh,  let  me  get  her  out !  " 

"  But  wait,"  said  Aunt  Jane;  "  we  must 
get  something  for  them  to  eat,  or  they  '11  eat 
us.  They  're  wild  with  hunger ;  must  be. 
But  why  so  many  !  I  can't  understand !  " 

"  Nor  I,"  said  Bessie,  "  only  I  know  Muff. 
What  shall  we  get  to  eat  ?  " 

"  There  's  nothing  in  the  house,"  said  Aunt 
Jane  reflectively,  "except  the  steak  for  break- 
fast !  Oh  !  —  and  the  milk —  but  that 's  only 
a  quart,  and  won't  last  a  minute  ;  however, 
we  must  get  what  we  have." 

So  they  hastily  rushed  to  the  kitchen,  and 
brought  the  pan  of  milk,  and  the  pound  of 
porterhouse  steak,  cut  into  bits.  Through  the 
bars  they  fed  out  the  steak,  till  the  first  pangs 
were  quieted  and  the  wailing  ceased,  and  then 
Aunt  Jane  got  a  hammer  and  pulled  off  one 
slat.  Through  the  opening  leaped  in  quick 
succession  seven  cats ! 

Aunt  Jane  laughed,  but  she  jumped  upon 


202         KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

a  chair,  while  the  poor  creatures  instantly 
crowded  around  the  pan  of  milk.  Seeing  them 
quiet,  Aunt  Jane  stepped  down. 

"  But  why  seven ! "  she  continually  re- 
peated. 

"  Where  can  they  stay  to-night  ?  "  asked 
Bessie  anxiously.  "  I  made  a  bed  for  Muff 
in  the  shed  —  but  seven  !  " 

"  They  must  all  go  into  the  shed  to-night," 
said  Aunt  Jane,  "  and  in  the  morning  we  '11 
see." 

In  the  morning  came  a  letter  from  the  good- 
natured  farmer  who  had  given  Muff  a  home 
since  Bessie  left.  In  it  he  said  :  "  Since  you 
went,  your  cat  has  brought  up  a  family  of  kit- 
tens, and  remembering  how  fond  you  are  of 
kittens,  and  not  knowing  what  else  to  do  with 
them,  —  for  everybody  around  here  is  well 
supplied  with  cats,  —  I  send  them  too.  I 
thought  maybe  you  could  give  them  away  in 
the  city." 

"  Oh,  dear !  they  're  every  one  Muffle's  own 
kittens  !  "  she  exclaimed. 

"  Kittens !  "  said  Aunt  Jane. 


THE  CAT'S  CHARM  203 

"  Well,  they  are  pretty  big,"  said  Bessie, 
"  but  they  belong  to  Muff,"  she  added  timidly, 
fearing  that  seven  cats  were  really  too  many 
for  one  who  "  hated  cats." 

"Well,"  said  Aunt  Jane  at  last,  "  I  '11  tell 
you  what  I  '11  do,  Bessie  dear.  I  '11  keep  the 
cats  till  we  find  good  homes  for  them,  for 
they  are  choice,  —  as  cats  go,  —  but  I  can't 
consent  to  keep,  for  good,  any  but  Muff." 

Bessie  was  obliged  to  be  contented,  and 
she  and  Aunt  Jane  went  vigorously  to  work 
to  find  homes.  One  by  one  they  were  com- 
fortably settled  in  life  till  but  two  were  left, 
Muff  and  the  prettiest  of  the  kits,  a  pure  mal- 
tese.  She  was  an  affectionate  puss,  and  had 
specially  clung  to  Aunt  Jane,  rubbing  against 
her  dress  when  she  came  near,  and  jumping 
up  to  rub  her  head  against  Aunt  Jane's  hand. 
She  even  sprang  into  her  lap,  and  after  gently 
putting  her  down  once  or  twice,  Aunt  Jane 
actually  at  last  let  her  stay  a  little  while. 

"  Auntie,"  said  Bessie,  one  evening,  "  I  've 
asked  every  girl  in  school,  and  the  milkman, 
and  the  washerwoman,  and  the  grocery  boy, 


204        KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

and  everybody  I  can  think  of,  and  nobody 
wants  another  kitten.  What  can  we  do  ?  " 

"  Well,  Bessie,"  said  Aunt  Jane  slowly, 
"  I  've  been  thinking.  A  cat  taught  me  a  charm 
one  day,  and  it  has  worked  so  well  that  I  Ve 
concluded  to  let  you  keep  two  cats." 

"  Oh,  you  dear  old  Auntie  !  "  cried  Bessie, 
throwing  her  arms  around  her  neck,  "  and 
you  don't  hate  cats  any  more  ?  " 

"  Well,  dear,"  said  Aunt  Jane,  putting  her 
arm  around  the  child,  "  I  'm  not  fond  of  them 
yet,  but  they're  affectionate  little  creatures, 
and  I  owe  the  race  something." 

"  I  'm  afraid  you  've  heard  all  my  stories, 
Kristy,"  said  Miss  Martin,  the  little  school- 
mistress. "  I  'm  sure  I  have  told  you  about 
a  funny  Christmas  celebration  that  I  know 
about.  It  was,  in  fact,  the  first  I  ever  heard 
of,  when  I  was  a  child  out  West." 

"  Oh,  no,  you  have  n't,"  said  Kristy  eagerly. 
"  Do  tell  it !  It 's  so  much  nicer  to  have  a 
story  about  people  we  know." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

MAY'S  HAPPY  THOUGHT 

Well  then  :  May  Dayton  had  lost  her  father 
and  mother  and  come  to  live  with  her  cousins, 
the  Stanleys,  in  the  far  West.  About  a  week 
before  Christmas,  she  asked  Jeanie  Stanley 
what  they  usually  did  on  Christmas. 

"Christmas?"  said  Jeanie.  "Why,  no- 
thing ;  only  just  not  go  to  school." 

"  Nothing  ! "  said  May,  aghast.  "  Don't  you 
have  any  Christmas  tree  ?  " 

"Christmas  tree!  What's  that?"  asked 
Jeanie. 

"  Nor  hang  up  your  stocking  ?  " 

Jeanie  shook  her  head. 

"  Nor  have  a  single  bit  of  a  present  ?  "  May 
went  on  in  utter  amazement. 

"  What  for?"  asked  Jeanie. 

"  Why,  don't  you  know  about  Santa  Claus, 
who  comes  down  the  chimney  on  Christmas 


206        KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

eve,  and  gives  everybody  a  present  ? "  said 
May,  completely  bewildered. 

"  Don't  know  nothing  'bout  him,"  said 
Jeanie.  "  Don't  b'lieve  there 's  any  such  a 
person  in  Missouri." 

May  drew  a  long  sigh. 

"  What  is  a  Christmas  tree,  anyway  ? " 
asked  Jeanie,  seeing  that  May  was  not  going 
to  speak. 

"  Oh,  it 's  a  beautiful  green  tree,  covered 
with  lights  and  presents  and  beautiful  things ! 
When  Mamma  was  alive  we  always  had  one 
on  Christmas  eve." 

"  Does  it  grow  so  ? "  asked  Jeanie  curi- 
ously. 

"  Of  course  not !  What  a  question  !  "  said 
May.  "  Do  you  know  what  Christmas  is,  any- 
how ?  "  she  added,  with  a  quick  flush  of  color. 

"  Of  course  I  do,"  retorted  Jeanie ;  "  but 
that  has  n't  anything  to  do  with  Christmas 
trees." 

"  Yes,  it  has,"  said  May  earnestly, "  a  great 
deal  to  do  with  them,  and  with  every  way  that 
we  have  for  making  everything  just  as  sweet 


MAY'S  HAPPY  THOUGHT  207 

and  lovely  as  we  can  on  that  day.  Mother 
always  said  so." 

Jeanie  opened  her  eyes  wider,  and  then 
asked  softly : 

"  But  what  about  the  Christmas  tree,  May  ?  " 

"  Well,  it 's  cut  down  and  brought  into  the 
house,  and  all  the  things  put  on  before  you 
see  it,  and  when  it 's  all  ready  the  folding 
doors  are  opened,  and  —  oh  !  it 's  beautiful !  " 
May  added  in  ecstasy.  "  Last  Christmas  I  had 
such  lovely  things :  the  prettiest  blue  dress 
you  ever  saw  —  I  've  got  a  piece  of  it  in  my 
trunk  —  and  new  clothes  for  my  doll  —  oh, 
such  nice  ones !  —  a  whole  suit  with  overskirt, 
and  all  in  the  fashion ;  and  a  cornucopia  of 
candies  and  a  box  of  nuts  and  raisins  and  — 
Oh,  I  can't  think  of  half  the  things,"  added 
May  brightly,  yet  half  ready  to  cry. 

"  I  wish  I  could  see  one,"  said  Jeanie,  "  but 
we  don't  have  such  things  here.  Ma  has  n't 
got  time,  nor  anybody." 

"  I  '11  tell  you  what  we  can  do,  I  guess," 
said  May,  who  had  been  revolving  an  idea  in 
her  mind.  "  We  might  get  up  one  ourselves,  — 


208        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

of  course  it  would  n't  be  so  nice  as  Mamma's, 
but  it  would  be  better  than  none." 

"Well,  let 's  !  "  said  Jeanie,  "  and  not  tell 
a  single  one  till  it 's  all  done." 

"  Where  can  we  have  it  ?  We  need  a  fire 
and  a  door  that  '11  lock,"  said  May. 

"  Oh,  Pa  '11  let  me  have  the  out-room,  I 
know,  if  I  coax  him,"  said  Jeanie,  "  and  we 
can  put  a  nail  over  the  latch  to  fasten  the 
door." 

The  out-room,  you  must  know,  was  a  roughly 
built  room,  a  little  apart  from  the  house.  It 
had  a  big  open  fireplace  and  a  huge  kettle, 
and  when  there  was  any  big  work,  like  mak- 
ing up  the  year's  soap,  or  putting  down  the 
year's  supply  of  salt  pork,  a  great  fire  was 
built  there  and  the  out-room  came  into  use. 

"Well,"  said  May  reflectively,  "I  guess  we 
can  do  it ;  we  can  trim  it  up,  you  know." 

"  How?  "  asked  Jeanie,  to  whom  all  Christ- 
mas ways  were  unknown  mysteries. 

"  Oh,  I  '11  show  you.  We  can  get  ever- 
greens in  the  woods,  and  oh,  some  of  that 
lovely  bitter-sweet,  and  I  can  make  paper 


MAY'S  HAPPY  THOUGHT  209 

flowers,"  May  went  on  enthusiastically,  as 
ideas  rushed  into  fyer  mind.  "  We  can  have 
it  real  pretty ;  but  don't  let 's  tell  anybody 
a  thing  about  it." 

The  next  week  was  a  very  busy  one  for  the 
two  plotters.  Every  moment,  when  out  of 
school,  they  were  whispering  in  corners,  or 
engaged  in  some  mysterious  work,  which  they 
would  hide  if  any  one  came  near. 

Mrs.  Stanley  was  glad  to  see  the  first  cheer- 
ful look  on  the  face  of  the  orphan,  and  did 
not  interfere  so  long  as  the  girls  kept  out  of 
her  way.  The  boys  —  of  whom  there  were 
two  younger  and  one  older  than  Jeanie — . 
were  very  curious,  and  Jack  —  the  older  one 
—  rather  teasing  about  it ;  but  on  the  whole 
May  and  Jeanie  succeeded  very  well  in  keep- 
ing their  secret. 

Two  days  before  Christmas,  Jeanie  followed 
her  father  as  he  started  off  in  the  morning  to 
the  barn  to  feed  the  cattle.  How  she  managed 
her  teasing  I  cannot  say,  but  in  a  short  time 
she  came  into  the  house  radiant,  gave  a  mys- 
terious nod  to  May,  and  they  at  once  dis- 


210        KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

appeared  up-stairs.  Soon  they  stole  down  the 
back  way,  armed  themselves  with  brooms, 
materials  for  a  fire,  and  a  big  nail  with  which 
to  lock  the  door,  and  then  slipped  into  the 
out-room. 

It  was  not  a  promising  looking  place,  but 
they  were  young  and  enthusiastic,  so  Jeanie 
went  to  work  to  build  a  roaring  fire  and  May 
began  with  the  broom. 

Well ;  they  worked  all  day,  harder  than 
ever  before  in  their  lives,  and  all  the  next  day, 
and  when  at  last  the  room  was  ready  for  com- 
pany it  really  looked  very  pretty.  The  bare 
walls  were  ornamented  with  wreaths  of  the  gay 
bitter-sweet  and  evergreen  boughs  brightened 
with  an  occasional  rose  or  lily  neatly  made  by 
May  of  thin  white  paper.  The  big  kettle  was 
transformed  into  a  table  by  means  of  a  board 
or  two  across  the  top,  and  a  white  sheet 
spread  over  all.  The  two  windows  were  cur- 
tained with  old  newspapers  concealed  by 
branches  of  evergreens.  In  the  middle  of  the 
room  stood  a  tub,  and  braced  up  in  it  with 
sticks  of  wood  hidden  under  sprays  of  green, 


MAY'S  HAPPY  THOUGHT  211 

stood  a  very  pretty  evergreen  tree.  There  were 
no  candles  on  it,  for  the  united  wisdom  of 
the  two  workers  had  not  been  able  to  ac- 
complish that.  But  the  bright  flickering  light 
of  the  fire  was  enough,  and  in  fact  made  just 
the  right  effect,  since  it  did  not  reveal  too 
much. 

On  the  tree  were  hung  pretty  things  out  of 
May's  trunk  —  keepsakes  from  her  old  play- 
mates. These  were  used  merely  for  decora- 
tion, but  besides  these  were  long  strings  of 
popped  corn,  and  a  present  for  each  one  of  the 
family. 

All  this  time  one  of  the  girls  had  been 
obliged  to  stay  in  the  room  every  minute,  to 
keep  the  door  locked,  for  the  boys  were  just 
wild  to  find  out  the  mystery.  Mrs.  Stanley  had 
stopped  in  her  dreary  round  of  drudgery  — 
for  this  home  was  the  temple  of  work  —  to  ask 
what  all  the  fuss  was  about.  But  Jeanie  told 
her  that  father  said  she  might  use  the  out- 
room,  and  Mrs.  Stanley  was  too  busy  and  tired 
to  feel  much  interest,  so  she  said,  Well,  she 
did  n't  care  if  they  did  n't  do  any  mischief. 


212        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

At  night  —  Christmas  eve  —  when  called 
to  supper,  May  went  in,  for  Jeanie  could  not 
tear  herself  away  from  the  wonderful  tree.  To 
her  it  was  the  most  beautiful  and  enchanting 
thing  in  the  world.  With  no  books  but  school- 
books,  no  pictures,  no  papers,  nothing  beauti- 
ful to  be  seen  in  that  little  grinding  prairie 
home,  she  had  never  even  imagined  anything 
so  lovely. 

When  they  rose  from  the  table  May  stopped 
at  the  door.  "  Aunt,"  she  began  timidly,  for 
she  was  rather  afraid  of  the  hard-working 
woman  whose  sharp  gray  eyes  seemed  to  look 
through  her  and  whose  lips  never  opened  ex- 
cept to  make  some  practical  remark,  "  will 
you  come  over  with  uncle  and  see  our  Christ- 
mas tree  ?  Come,  boys  !  "  and  she  started  off. 

"  So  that 's  what  the  young  ones  have  been 
up  to,  is  it  ?  "  said  Mr.  Stanley,  lighting  his 
pipe.  "  Come,  mother,  let 's  go  over  and  see 
what  they  've  got.  That  May 's  the  beater  for 
plans  if  ever  I  see  one." 

"  Wall,"  said  Mrs.  Stanley,  pushing  back 
the  table  that  she  had  already  cleared,  "  I 


MAY'S   HAPPY  THOUGHT  213 

don't  mind  if  I  step  over  a  minute  before  I 
get  out  my  dish-water.  I  never  see  Jane  so  took 
up  as  she  has  been  this  week." 

They  went  over  to  the  out-room.  The  boys 
were  already  there,  staring  in  a  bewilderment 
of  wonder.  May  leaned  against  the  unique 
table,  very  tired,  but  happy,  and  Jeanie  fairly 
danced  around  with  delight. 

"  Well,  well !  "  said  Mr.  Stanley,  "  this  looks 
something  like,  now !  Why,  this  carries  me 
back  to  when  I  was  a  boy,  away  down  in  York 
state.  I  'd  never  'a'  thought  you  two  little 
gals  could  fix  this  old  room  up  so  pretty; 
would  you  now,  mother  ?  " 

"  Mother  "  did  n't  say  anything.  There  was 
a  sort  of  a  choke  in  her  throat,  and  something 
suspiciously  like  a  tear  in  her  eye,  as  she  looked 
at  the  bright,  happy  faces  of  her  children  — 
faces  such  as  she  had  never  seen  since  they 
were  babies,  before  they  were  initiated  into 
the  regular  family  grind. 

After  a  moment  she  recovered  herself,  went 
up  to  May,  and,  to  her  utter  amazement,  gave 
her  a  warm  kiss,  and  said : 


214        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"  It 's  beautif id,  dear,  and  I  thank  you  for 
it."  And  then  she  looked  a  few  minutes,  and 
said  she  must  go.  But  Jeanie  sprang  up. 

"  Wait,  Ma ;  the  presents  are  coming  yet." 

"  Presents !  "  said  Mr.  Stanley,  "  are  there 
presents,  then?" 

"  Oh,  of  course !  "  said  May,  "  else  how 
could  it  be  a  Christmas  tree?  " 

"  Sure  enough  !  "  said  Mr.  Stanley. 

May  now  went  up  to  the  tree  and  took  down 
first  a  pretty  necktie  for  Jack,  made  out  of 
some  of  her  bits  of  silk. 

"  Why,  that 's  just  the  very  thing  I  want," 
said  Jack,  amazed.  "  How  did  you  know  that, 
you  witch  ?  and  who  made  it  ?  " 

"  Jeanie  and  I,"  said  May. 

"  No,  May  made  it  most  every  bit,"  said 
Jeanie.  "  I  don't  know  how." 

Next  came  a  pair  of  warm  red  mittens  for 
Harry. 

"  Jeanie  made  these,"  said  May.  "  I  can't 
knit." 

Well,  so  they  went  on.  Mrs.  Stanley  had  a 
pretty  pin-cushion  for  her  bureau ;  Mr.  Stan- 


MAY'S  HAPPY  THOUGHT  215 

ley  a  neat  bag  for  his  tobacco ;  Johnny  a  pair 
of  wristlets  to  keep  his  wrists  warm.  Each  of 
the  children  had  a  little  bag  of  nicely  cracked 
hickory-nuts,  a  beautiful  red  apple,  and  a  few 
sticks  of  molasses  candy.  The  girls  had  no- 
thing; they  had  been  so  busy  they  never 
thought  of  themselves. 

When  the  presents  were  all  distributed,  and 
the  children  were  busy  eating  nuts  and  candy, 
and  having  a  merry  time  naming  apple  seeds, 
and  doing  other  things  that  May  taught  them, 
Mrs.  Stanley  stole  out,  and  went  back  to  the 
kitchen  to  her  dish-washing.  But  something 
was  the  matter,  for  she  moved  more  slowly 
than  ever  before ;  she  let  the  water  run  over, 
put  the  soap  into  the  milk-cup,  and  made  vari- 
ous other  blunders.  She  was  thinking. 

And  when  all  the  family  were  in  bed  that 
night,  and  she  and  Mr.  Stanley  were  sitting 
alone  by  the  fire,  she  spoke  her  thoughts. 

"  John,  that  tree  has  set  me  a-thinking.  We 
ain't  doing  just  right  by  our  children.  It's 
all  work  and  no  play,  and  they  're  growing 
old  and  sober  before  their  time.  We  're  fore- 


216        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

handed   enough   now  to  let   up  on  them  a 
little." 

"  You  're  right,  mother,"  said  Mr.  Stanley. 
"  I  've  been  thinking  the  same  thing  myself. 
That  little  gal,  with  her  pretty,  lady-like  ways, 
does  make  me  think  so  much  of  her  mother, 
only  't  wa'n't  natural  to  her  to  be  so  down- 
hearted as  the  little  one  has  been.  But  see  her 
to-night !  I  declare  I  'd  do  anything  a'  most  to 
keep  that  happy  face  on  her.  What  shall  we 
do,  Sally?" 

"  Well,"  said  Mrs.  Stanley,  her  face  un- 
wontedly  bright  with  new  thoughts,  "  it  is  n't 
eight  o'clock  yet,  and  I've  been  thinking  if 
you  'd  go  to  the  village  and  buy  a  few  things 
to  put  by  their  beds  for  Christmas  it  would  be 
good.  Children  think  so  much  of  such  things," 
she  added,  half  apologetically. 

"  So  it  would !  and  I  '11  do  it,  wife,"  said 
Mr.  Stanley,  taking  his  boots  out  of  the  corner, 
and  hastening  to  put  them  on.  "  Make  out 
your  list,  and  I  '11  go  down  to  Kennedy's.  He 
don't  shut  up  till  nine." 

Kennedy's  was  a  country  store,  where  you 


MAY'S  HAPPY  THOUGHT  217 

could  buy  everything,  from  a  needle  to  a 
threshing-machine,  and  about  nine  o'clock  Mr. 
Stanley  came  home  with  a  market-basket  full 
of  things.  There  was  a  gay  merino  dress  for 
Jeanie,  a  pair  of  skates  for  May,  a  new  knife 
for  Jack,  a  sled  and  a  picture-book  for  each 
of  the  boys. 

There  was,  besides  these,  a  package  of  real 
store  candy,  some  raisins,  and,  down  under 
the  whole,  where  Mrs.  Stanley  could  not  see 
it,  a  neat  dark  dress  for  her,  which  Mr.  Stan- 
ley had  bought  to  surprise  her. 

Well,  everybody  was  surprised  the  next 
morning,  you  may  be  sure,  and  after  the  break- 
fast —  of  which  little  was  eaten  —  Jack  went 
out  and  killed  a  turkey.  Jeanie  and  May  put 
on  big  aprons  and  helped  ;  Jack  chopped  stuff- 
ing and  suet ;  and,  for  the  first  time  in  their 
lives,  the  children  had  a  real  Christmas  din- 
ner —  plum  pudding  and  all. 

That  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  life  in  the 
plain  farmhouse.  Little  by  little  books  found 
their  way  to  the  table,  an  easy  chair  or  two 
stole  into  the  rooms,  pictures  made  their  ap- 


218        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

pearance  on  the  walls,  and  in  time  a  wing  was 
added  to  the  house.  After  a  while  a  neat- 
handed  farmer's  daughter  came  to  help  mother. 
Shrubbery  came  up  in  the  yard,  vines  began 
to  grow  over  the  windows,  and  the  fence  had 
a  new  coat  of  paint.  Now  that  she  was  not 
always  tired  out,  mother  began  to  go  out 
among  her  neighbors ;  friendly  visits  followed, 
then  a  tea-party.  Jack  joined  the  book-club 
in  the  village,  and  mother  invited  them  to 
meet  at  her  house  in  turn.  In  fact,  some 
innocent  pleasures  came  into  these  hard- 
worked  lives,  and  all  owing  —  as  Mr.  Stanley 
would  say,  holding  the  bright  happy  May  on 
his  knee  —  "to  this  little  girl's  Christmas 
tree," 

"  That 's  splendid  !  "  said  Kristy,  "  and 
where  is  Cousin  May  now,  Miss  Martin  ?  " 

"  Oh,  she  has  a  home  of  her  own  out  West, 
and  I  've  seen  many  a  Christmas  tree  in  it." 

"  That  was  a  good  deal  to  be  done  by  one 
little  girl,"  said  Aunt  Mary,  "but  I  have 
known  wonders  worked  in  another  way  by  a 


MAY'S   HAPPY  THOUGHT  219 

more  helpless  object  than  the  weakest  girl,  by 
a  pair  of  shoes,  even,  or  a  little  bisque  figure." 

"  That  must  be  magic,"  said  grandmother. 

"  Tell  us  a  story  of  magic  ;  do  !  "  said  Kristy. 
"  I  always  liked  impossible  stories." 

"  But  this  is  not  at  all  impossible,"  said 
Aunt  Mary,  "  though  it  is  a  story  of  magical 
effects  that  I  propose  to  tell.  But  before  I 
begin,  lest  some  of  you  young  ones,"  look- 
ing around  with  a  smile  at  her  audience  of 
"grown-ups,"  "  should  make  a  mistake,  I  will 
say  that  the  magic  is  not  in  the  figure,  but 
in  the  thought  back  of  it." 

"  Oh  !  Oh  !  "  cried  the  audience,  "  to  give 
us  the  moral  before  the  story  !  " 

"  Well,  do  go  on,  Aunt  Mary,"  interrupted 
Kristy.  "  Don't  mind  what  they  say  !  the 
moral 's  good  for  them !  and  besides,  the 
story  's  for  me." 

"  So  it  is,  dear,  and  now  I  begin  with  Kate 
Barlow's  talk  to  her  mother." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  MAGIC  FIGURE 

"  I  DON'T  mind  giving  up  an  hour  or  two  to 
go  and  read  to  sick  folks,"  exclaimed  Kate 
crossly,  "  if  they  '11  only  keep  their  rooms  half 
decent." 

"  Why,  what 's  the  matter  now,  Kate," 
asked  her  mother,  "  is  n't  it  pleasant  at 
Mary's?" 

"  Pleasant !  it 's  simply  horrid  !  Such  a 
room  I  never  saw !  Furniture  covered  with 
dust,  tables  loaded  with  medicine  things  and 
dirty  dishes,  every  chair  with  something  on 
it,  and  I  don't  believe  the  windows  were  ever 
washed." 

"  But,  my  dear,"  said  her  mother,  "  you 
must  remember  that  Mary's  mother  is  poor, 
and  —  " 

"  But  she  might  be  clean,"  interrupted 
Kate. 


THE  MAGIC  FIGURE  221 

"  And  she  has  her  hands  full  to  take  care 
of  all  those  children." 

"  Some  of  them  are  big  enough  to  help," 
said  Kate.  "  There 's  that  Bess !  great  lazy 
thing  !  with  an  apron  a  pig  would  be  ashamed 
to  wear  ! " 

"Who  is  this  Mary?"  quietly  asked  Miss 
Faith,  a  lady  who  had  come  to  visit  Kate's 
mother  only  the  day  before. 

"  One  of  Kate's  schoolmates,"  said  Mrs. 
Barlow,  "  who  fell  on  the  ice  and  was  hurt 
last  winter.  She  is  obliged  to  lie  perfectly 
still,  but  the  doctors  hope  she  will  be  well 
after  some  months." 

"  Poor,  did  you  say  ? "  went  on  Miss 
Faith. 

"  Well,  not  beggars,"  said  Mrs.  Barlow, 
"  but  they  have  close  work  to  get  along.  Her 
mother  is  a  widow  with  four  or  five  children, 
on  a  small  income." 

"  And  she  does  her  own  work,"  put  in 
Kate,  "  what  little  's  done  ;  but  I  don't  believe 
she  ever  clears  up  Mary's  room.  I  should 
think  she  'd  die ;  I  should." 


222        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"  And  it  would  n't  do,  I  suppose,  to  speak 
to  her  about  it  ?  "  suggested  Miss  Faith. 

"  Dear  me,  no  !  "  said  Mrs.  Barlow ;  "she  's 
a  high-spirited  woman  ;  has  been  used  to  bet- 
ter times.  She  would  be  mortally  offended." 

"  I  've  seen  such  cases,"  said  Miss  Faith, 
with  a  smile,  "  and  I  know  what  to  do  for 
them.  Kate,  I  think  I  can  help  you." 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  can  do,"  sighed 
Kate ;  "  it  seems  to  me  a  hopeless  case." 

"  I  '11  use  magic  !  "  said  Miss  Faith,  smil- 
ing. 

"  What !  "  exclaimed  Kate  and  her  mother 
in  one  breath. 

"  I  '11  send  Mary  a  present,"  went  on  Miss 
Faith,  "  that  shall  work  magic  in  the  house  ; 
you  '11  be  surprised  at  the  result." 

"  If  it  clears  up  that  house  it  '11  be  magic, 
sure  enough,"  said  Kate. 

"It  will!"  said  Miss  Faith  quietly.  "I 
never  knew  it  to  fail.  It  will  not  take  ten  days 
to  accomplish  all  you  can  ask." 

"  I  must  say  I  'd  like  to  see  it,"  said  Kate, 
half  unbelieving. 


THE  MAGIC  FIGURE  223 

"  Come  up  to  my  room  and  I  '11  show  you," 
said  Miss  Faith,  rising. 

Kate  followed  her  eagerly  to  her  room, 
where  she  unlocked  and  opened  her  trunk. 
The  contents  of  the  trunk  were  rather  unu- 
sual, but  then  Miss  Faith  was  rather  an  un- 
usual person.  For  dress  she  cared  very  little, 
yet  she  always  was  accompanied  on  her  jour- 
neys by  a  big  trunk.  Kate  had  often  won- 
dered what  was  in  it,  and  now  she  looked  on 
with  curiosity  as  .Miss  Faith  took  out  one 
thing  after  another :  a  pile  of  children's 
clothes ;  three  or  four  pairs  of  shoes  of  differ- 
ent sizes  ;  several  books  —  children's  books ; 
toys  of  a  cheap  and  durable  kind,  and  other 
things  equally  strange  for  an  elderly  lady  to 
carry  about  in  her  trunk. 

Kate  could  not  help  an  exclamation  of  sur- 
prise, as  these  various  objects  came  to  light. 
Miss  Faith  smiled. 

"  Queer,  is  n't  it,  dear,  but  these  are  my 
magical  tools,  and  here  I  think  I  have  the  par- 
ticular one  you  need,"  and  she  opened  a  small 
wooden  box,  took  out  a  quantity  of  soft  pack- 


224        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

ing  paper,  and  thus  uncovered  a  little  bisque 
figure.  It  was  not  more  than  eight  inches 
high,  and,  of  course,  it  was  not  very  costly, 
but  it  was  a  lovely,  graceful  thing,  the  figure 
of  a  beautiful  child. 

"  Oh  !  how  pretty  !  "  cried  Kate ;  "  what  a 
beautiful  face  !  and  such  a  snowy  white  !  Do 
you  really  mean  to  send  Mary  that  ?  It  '11  look 
fearfully  out  of  place  in  her  dingy  room." 

"  So  I  hope,"  said  Miss  Faith ;  "  it  would 
show  no  magic  qualities  otherwise." 

"  Well,  it 's  perfectly  lovely,  and  Mary  '11  be 
crazy  over  it,  but  how  it's  to  clear  up  that 
house  I  must  say  /  can't  see." 

"You  will  see,"  said  Miss  Faith,  smiling. 
"  Will  you  take  it  over  to  her  with  my 
love?"  " 

"  Oh,  yes ! "  said  Kate  warmly ;  "  I  'd  like  to 
see  what  she  says." 

Kate  took  the  pretty  gift  to  Mary,  and  was 
gratified  to  report  the  delight  and  happiness 
it  caused. 

"  She  had  me  set  it  on  her  bureau,"  said 
Kate,  "  where  she  could  lie  and  look  at  it,  and 


THE  MAGIC  FIGURE  225 

I  had  to  move  a  dozen  things  aside  to  find 
room  for  it." 

"  Near  the  window  ?  "  asked  Miss  Faith. 

"Close  by  the  window,"  answered  Kate, 
"  with  horrid  dirty  muslin  curtains,  too." 

"H'm!"  said  Miss  Faith,  "I  shouldn't 
wonder  if  that  magic  began  to  work  to-night." 

In  truth  it  began  sooner  than  Miss  Faith 
thought,  for  hardly  was  Kate  out  of  the  house 
when  Mary  said  to  her  mother,  who  had  come 
up  from  the  kitchen  to  see  the  new  treasure, 
"  Mother,  I  could  see  it  better  if  there  were  n't 
so  many  things  on  the  bureau.  I  wish  you  'd 
take  some  off." 

"  I  will,"  said  the  mother,  pleased  to  see 
Mary  interested,  and  she  went  to  the  bureau 
and  in  two  minutes  had  it  completely  cleared. 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Mary  in  a  pleased  tone ; 
"  that  is  nice,  it  looks  lovely  now." 

The  magic  worked  on.  The  next  morning 
Mary  lay  in  her  room  alone,  looking  with  un- 
tiring interest  on  the  beautiful  gift.  It  was 
so  delicate,  so  white ;  suddenly  she  noticed 
that  the  curtains  which  hung  near  it  looked 


226        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

extremely  dingy  by  contrast.  "  Mother,"  she 
said  when  she  was  eating  her  breakfast  a 
little  later,  "  could  n't  you  have  my  curtains 
washed?  They 're  awful  dirty." 

"  They  do  look  a  little  dingy,"  said  her 
mother  with  a  sigh,  "  but  washings  are  so  big 
that  I  kind  o'  put  off  things." 

"  Could  n't  Bess  help  ?  "  suggested  Mary. 

"  Could  if  she  had  a  mind  to,"  said  her 
mother ;  "  but  you  know  what  Bess  is,  I  can't 
make  the  least  impression  on  her  if  I  scold 
from  morning  to  night." 

"I  suppose  not,"  said  Mary  thoughtfully. 
"I  wish  I  could  — " 

"  But  you  can't,"  interrupted  her  mother, 
"  and  you  mus'  n't  fret  about  it,  dearie.  1 11 
get  the  curtains  washed  somehow,"  for  to  keep 
Mary  from  fretting  under  her  tiresome  con- 
finement was  her  mother's  great  anxiety. 

"  Don't  you  do  it,  Mother,"  said  Mary. 
"  I  '11  get  Bess  to  do  it  —  if  I  can,"  she  added 
doubtfully. 

"  Well,  you  may  try  her,"  said  Mrs.  Ben- 
ton,  "  and  if  she  won't  do  it,  I  will." 


THE   MAGIC  FIGURE  227 

After  studying  up  a  plan,  Mary  went  to 
work  quite  skillfully  on  her  easy-going  sister. 
She  talked  about  the  figure,  drew  her  on  to 
tell  how  much  she  admired  it,  and  then  called 
her  attention  to  the  dingy  looks  of  the  cur- 
tains beside  it. 

"  If  I  was  only  able,"  she  ended  with  a  sigh, 
"  I  would  have  them  washed  and  ironed  be- 
fore night,"  and  then  in  a  sudden  way  she 
offered  Bess  a  book  of  hers  if  she  would  do  it. 

Bess  wanted  the  book,  and  moreover  was 
sorry  —  in  her  lazy  way  —  for  her  sister,  and, 
after  a  moment's  thought,  she  consented. 

The  curtains  were  soon  down  and  in  the 
wash-tub,  and  then  Mary  had  a  chance  to 
notice  the  windows. 

"  Why,  how  dirty  they  are ! "  she  said  to 
herself ;  "  they  ought  to  be  washed  while  the 
curtains  are  down.  Mother 's  busy  and  Bess  '11 
be  too  tired,"  she  reflected.  Then  her  eyes 
fell  on  a  little  sister,  eight  years  old,  who  was 
playing  on  the  floor.  "Susy,"  she  said,  "I 
wonder  if  you  could  n't  wash  the  windows  for 
sister." 


228         KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"  'Course  I  can,"  said  Susy,  delighted  with 
the  idea  of  unlimited  soap  and  water. 

"  Well ;  suppose  you  do  it  then,"  went 
on  Mary  coaxingly,  "  and  see  if  you  can't 
get  it  all  done  to  surprise  mother  when  she 
comes  up." 

Charmed  to  do  grown-up  work,  Susy  went 
at  it  eagerly.  Under  Mary's  instructions  she 
brought  warm  water  and  other  things,  and  was 
soon  very  busy  indeed.  After  a  good  deal  of 
rubbing,  and  many  directions  on  Mary's  part, 
Susy  managed  to  get  the  lower  panes  pretty 
clean,  but  the  upper  ones  Mary  dared  not  let 
her  climb  up  to  try.  It  was  not  very  satisfac- 
tory, to  be  sure,  for  the  clear  glasses  only 
made  the  others  look  worse  than  before. 

"  Why,  Susy  !  "  exclaimed  the  mother  when 
she  came  up  and  heard  who  had  been  washing 
windows,  "  how  nicely  you  've  made  the  panes 
look !  Mother  '11  have  to  wash  the  upper  ones 
herself  to  match  them."  And  she  did  too,  so 
that  before  night  Mary  had  clean  windows 
and  clean  white  curtains. 

Kate,  who  came  the  next  day  to  read  to 


THE  MAGIC   FIGURE  229 

Mary,  went  home  with  wide-open  eyes.  "  Why, 
Miss  Faith,  I  do  believe  it  is  magic  !  If  you  '11 
credit  me,  they  've  begun  to  clean  up ;  really, 
clean  windows  and  spick-and-span  white  cur- 
tains. I  could  hardly  believe  my  eyes." 

"  I  told  you  it  would  work,"  said  Miss 
Faith  quietly.  "  It  is  n't  done  yet." 

Truly  it  was  not,  for  the  next  day  Mary 
began  to  notice  the  littered  appearance  of  the 
room,  the  medicine  bottles  and  cups,  and  the 
confusion  generally. 

"  The  windows  look  so  nice,"  she  said  to 
Susy,  who  was  her  most  constant  attendant, 
"that  I  wish  you  would  clear  up  a  little 
more." 

"  What  shall  I  do  ?  "  asked  good-natured 
Susy. 

"  Well,"  began  Mary,  "  first  take  all  the 
dirty  dishes  out,  and  set  them  in  the  hall 
where  mother  or  Bess  can  take  them  down- 
stairs." 

Many  times  back  and  forth  trotted  the  busy 
little  feet  before  this  was  done. 

"  Now  you  can  take  all  the  empty  bottles," 


230         KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

said  Mary,  "and  put  them  on  the  shelf  in  the 
hall  cupboard."  So  they  went  on,  Mary  direct- 
ing and  Susy  working,  and  after  an  hour's 
labor  the  room  was  much  improved. 

"Why,  how  slick  you  look  up  here  !  What 's 
got  into  you  all  of  a  sudden !  "  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Benton,  when  she  came  up. 

"  Why,"  explained  Mary,  "  the  windows 
looked  so  clean  it  made  the  rest  of  the  room 
seem  very  mussy,  and  Susy 's  been  clearing  up 
for  me ;  has  n't  she  done  it  nicely  ?  " 

"  Very,"  assented  her  mother,  "  and  it  does 
seem  more  attractive." 

"  When  I  don't  see  anything  else,"  added 
Mary  in  a  low  tone. 

"Sure  enough,  poor  child !  "  said  her  mother. 
"  We  won't  let  the  room  get  so  again." 

That  day  again  Kate  rushed  home  with  a 
tale  of  wonders  done  by  that  magic  gift. 

Still  the  charm  worked.  The  next  day  she 
found  the  floor  swept  and  the  furniture  dusted ; 
the  third  day  Mary  had  a  clean  white  counter- 
pane in  place  of  the  old  soiled  one,  and  a 
white  towel  on  her  medicine  stand  ;  the  fourth 


THE  MAGIC   FIGURE  231 

day  a  hole  in  the  carpet  over  which  Kate  had 
several  times  stumbled,  was  neatly  mended; 
the  fifth  day  the  hall  was  swept  and  the  stairs 
washed,  and  the  sixth  day  the  whole  house 
had  an  unwontedly  clean  air. 

Nor  was  this  all ;  the  charm  worked  on 
the  people  as  well  as  on  the  house.  First  Kate 
noticed  that  Susy  had  clean  face  and  hands, 
next  that  her  dress  had  been  washed  and 
mended.  Then  she  saw  an  improvement  in 
Bess's  appearance,  and  later  a  gradual  change 
in  the  looks  of  every  one  of  the  household, 
even  to  Mrs.  Benton  herself.  Every  day  she 
went  home  with  new  wonders  to  tell,  and 
fresh  surprise  at  the  simple  cause  of  all  the 
changes. 

"  Why,  it 's  a  real  pleasure  to  go  there 
now,"  she  said  one  day,  "  and  all  the  girls  say 
so.  Mary  seems  ever  so  much  brighter  too ;  I 
do  believe  she  's  better." 

"  No  doubt  she  is,"  said  Miss  Faith ; "  there 's 
no  doctor  so  good  as  an  interest  in  things 
around  one.  Does  she  still  care  for  the  bisque 
figure  ?  " 


232        KKISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"  Care  for  it !  why,  she  about  worships  it. 
That  Bess  —  sure  's  you  live  —  has  patched 
up  some  sort  of  a  bracket  out  of  half  a  flour- 
barrel  cover  and  some  bits  of  cloth  and  bright 
braid,  and  you  would  n't  believe  it,  but  it 's 
real  pretty  and  bright,  and  she  nailed  it  up 
between  the  windows,  and  on  it  stands  that 
blessed  figure.  It  really  gives  the  room  an 
air !  " 

"  And  I  want  to  tell  you,  Miss  Faith,"  Kate 
went  on  eagerly,  "the  girls  in  Mary's  class, 
seeing  how  hard  she  tries  to  have  her  room 
pretty,  have  made  a  plan  to  fix  it  up  nice  for 
a  Christmas  surprise  for  her.  We  've  talked  it 
over  a  little,  and  it 's  going  to  be  splendid. 
Carry  Bates  —  her  father  keeps  a  paper-hang- 
ing store  —  says  she  's  most  sure  he  '11  give 
paper  enough  to  cover  her  wall,  and  perhaps 
a  man  to  put  it  on,  and  Luly  Jones  is  going 
to  get  some  pretty  cretonne  out  of  her  father's 
store,  to  cover  the  lounge  and  a  pillow  for  it ; 
we've  got  money  enough  among  us  to  buy 
matting  for  the  floor,  and  Mamma  says  I  may 
give  her  my  Persian  rug ;  and  then  we  're  all 


THE  MAGIC   FIGURE  233 

going  to  give  books  and  little  pictures,  and 
everything  pretty  we  can  get.  We  mean  to 
make  her  room  lovely.  Is  n't  it  grand  !  " 

"  Indeed  it  is,  Kate ! "  said  Miss  Faith 
warmly,  "and  I  '11  help.  What  shall  I  do? 
You  may  decide." 

A  bright  expression  came  into  Kate's  face, 
then  a  look  of  doubt. 

"  What  is  it,  dear  ?  Tell  me  just  what  you 
wish,"  said  Miss  Faith,  watching  her  keenly. 

"  Would  you  spend  some  money  ?  "  began 
Kate  hesitatingly,  "  a  good  deal,  I  'm  afraid." 

"  What  for  ?  "  demanded  Miss  Faith. 

"  Oh,  for  an  invalid  bed,  that  can  be  lifted 
up  at  the  head,  so  she  can  most  sit  up,  or  lie 
down  flat.  We  did  want  to  buy  one  awfully  ! 
but  we  knew  it  would  cost  too  much.  The 
girls  had  n't  much  money,"  Kate  pleaded. 

Miss  Faith  thought  a  moment. 

"  If  I  do  that,  Kate,  it  will  take  all  my 
Christmas  money,"  she  said  gravely.  "All 
the  young  people  to  whom  I  usually  make  pre- 
sents will  have  to  go  without." 

"  Oh,   I  'm   sure,   dear   Miss   Faith,"    said 


234        KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

Kate  warmly,  "  they  would  all  be  glad  to,  if 
they  could  only  know  how  good  it  would  be 
for  Mary ;  and  she  has  to  lie  there  always" 
she  added  with  a  shudder.  "  Think  how  fear- 
ful that  is ! " 

"  Well,"  said  Miss  Faith,  "  I  '11  do  it,  Kate. 
You  girls  select  the  bed  and  have  the  bill  sent 
to  me.  The  magic  works  beyond  Mary  Ben- 
ton's  chamber,  you  see." 

"  Sure  enough,"  said  Kate  thoughtfully ; 
"  it  was  that  figure  began  it,"  and  as  she 
walked  hastily  down  in  the  village  to  tell  the 
girls  the  good  news  about  the  invalid  bed, 
she  thought  the  whole  thing  over,  from  the 
first  day,  less  than  two  weeks  ago,  when  Miss 
Faith  had  taken  the  bisque  figure  out  of  her 
trunk,  till  now.  Wonderful  indeed  had  been 
the  changes,  not  only  in  Mary's  room,  but 
spreading  over  the  house,  and  then  among 
the  school-girls  who  visited  Mary.  And  at 
last,  as  she  ran  up  the  steps  of  Carry  Bates's 
house,  came  her  conclusion :  "  Well ;  there 
must  have  been  magic  about  that  little  bisque 
figure." 


THE  MAGIC  FIGURE  235 

It  was  now  getting  quite  late  in  the  even- 
ing, and  Mamma,  who  was  last  in  the  circle, 
suggested  that  Kristy  had  heard  stories  enough 
for  one  evening,  and  that  her  story  better  he 
put  off  till  some  other  time. 

But  a  chorus  of  the  story-tellers  insisted 
that  she  should  herself  follow  the  rule  she 
had  so  sternly  enforced  upon  others.  Kristy, 
too,  would  not  hear  of  postponement.  "  I  can 
make  you  tell  me  another  to-morrow,"  she 
said,  whereupon  the  audience  laughed  and 
applauded,  and  in  the  midst  of  this  confusion 
Mamma  knocked  on  the  fire-dogs  for  silence. 

"  If  I  must  tell  the  story,  I  wish  to  begin, 
for  it  is  quite  time  my  patient  went  to  bed. 
I  shall  tell  of  a  poor  Irish  woman  I  read  about 
last  winter  in  the  papers." 

"  And  went  to  see,"  whispered  Kristy  to 
Uncle  John,  who  was  arranging  the  fire. 

Mamma  did  not  hear  her,  but  began  at  once. 


CHAPTER   XV 

CHRISTMAS  IN  THE  ALLEY 

t(  I  DECLARE  for  't,  to-morrow  is  Christmas 
day  an'  I  clean  forgot  all  about  it,"  said  old 
Ann,  the  washerwoman,  pausing  in  her  work 
and  holding  the  flat-iron  suspended  in  the  air. 

"  Much  good  it  '11  do  us,"  growled  a  discon- 
tented voice  from  the  coarse  bed  in  the  corner. 

"  We  have  n't  much  extra,  to  be  sure,"  an- 
swered Ann  cheerfully,  bringing  the  iron  down 
onto  the  shirt-bosom  before  her,  "  but  at  least 
we've  enough  to  eat,  and  a  good  fire,  and 
that 's  more  'n  some  have,  not  a  thousand  miles 
from  here  either." 

"  We  might  have  plenty  more,"  said  the 
fretful  voice,  "  if  you  did  n't  think  so  much 
more  of  strangers  than  you  do  of  your  own 
folks'  comfort,  keeping  a  houseful  of  beggars, 
as  if  you  was  a  lady  !  " 

"Now,  John,"  replied  Ann,  taking  another 


CHRISTMAS  IN  THE  ALLEY         237 

iron  from  the  fire,  "  you  're  not  half  so  bad  as 
you  pretend.  You  wouldn't  have  me  turn 
them  poor  creatures  into  the  streets  to  freeze, 
now  would  you  ?  " 

"  It 's  none  of  our  business  to  pay  rent  for 
them,"  grumbled  John.  "  Every  one  for  him- 
self, I  say,  these  hard  times.  If  they  can't  pay 
you  'd  ought  to  send  'em  off ;  there 's  plenty 
as  can." 

"  They  'd  pay  quick  enough  if  they  could 
get  work,"  said  Ann.  "  They  're  good  honest 
fellows,  every  one,  and  paid  me  regular  as  long 
as  they  had  a  cent.  But  when  hundreds  are 
out  o'  work  in  the  city,  what  can  they  do  ?  " 

"  That 's  none  o'  your  business,  you  can 
turn  'em  out !  "  growled  John. 

"  And  leave  the  poor  children  to  freeze  as 
well  as  starve?"  said  Ann.  "Who'd  ever 
take  'em  in  without  money,  I  'd  like  to  know  ? 
No,  John,"  bringing  her  iron  down  as  though 
she  meant  it,  "  I  'm  glad  I  'm  well  enough  to 
wash  and  iron,  and  pay  my  rent,  and  so  long 
as  I  can  do  that,  and  keep  the  hunger  away 
from  you  and  the  child,  I  '11  never  turn  the 


238         KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

poor  souls  out,  leastways  not  in  this  freezing 
winter  weather." 

"  An'  here  's  Christmas,"  the  old  man  went 
on  whiningly,  "  an'  not  a  penny  to  spend,  an' 
I  needin'  another  blanket  so  bad,  with  my 
rhumatiz,  an'  have  n't  had  a  drop  o'  tea  for  I 
don't  know  how  long !  " 

"  I  know  it,"  said  Ann,  never  mentioning 
that  she  too  had  been  without  tea,  and  not 
only  that,  but  with  small  allowance  of  food  of 
any  kind,  "  and  I  'm  desperate  sorry  I  can't 
get  a  bit  of  something  for  Katey.  The  child 
never  missed  a  little  something  in  her  stocking 
before." 

"  Yes,"  John  struck  in,  "  much  you  care 
for  your  flesh  an'  blood.  The  child  ha' n't  had 
a  thing  this  winter." 

"  That 's  true  enough,"  said  Ann,  with  a 
sigh,  "  an'  it 's  the  hardest  thing  of  all  that 
I  've  had  to  keep  her  out  o'  school  when  she 
was  doing  so  beautiful." 

"An'  her  feet  all  on  the  ground,"  John 
growled. 

"  I  know  her  shoes  is  bad,"  said  Ann,  hang- 


CHRISTMAS  IN  THE  ALLEY          239 

ing  the  shirt  up  on  a  line  that  stretched  across 
the  room,  and  was  already  nearly  full  of  freshly 
ironed  clothes,  "  but  they  're  better  than  the 
Parker  children's." 

"What's  that  to  us?"  almost  shouted  the 
weak  old  man,  shaking  his  fist  at  her  in  his 
rage. 

"  Well,  keep  your  temper,  old  man,"  said 
Ann.  "I'm  sorry  it  goes  so  hard  with  you, 
but  as  long  as  I  can  stand  on  my  feet,  I  sha'n't 
turn  anybody  out  to  freeze,  that 's  certain." 

"  How  much  '11  you  get  for  them  ?  "  said 
the  miserable  old  man,  after  a  few  moments' 
silence,  indicating  by  his  hand  the  clean  clothes 
on  the  line. 

"  Two  dollars,"  said  Ann,  "  and  half  of  it 
must  go  to  help  make  up  next  month's  rent. 
I  've  got  a  good  bit  to  make  up  yet,  and  only 
a  week  to  do  it  in,  and  I  sha'n't  have  another 
cent  till  day  after  to-morrow." 

"  Well,  I  wish  you  'd  manage  to  buy  me  a 
little  tea,"  whined  the  old  man ;  "  seems  as  if 
that  would  go  right  to  the  spot,  an'  warm  up 
my  old  bones  a  bit." 


240         KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"  I  'II  try,"  said  Ann,  revolving  in  her  mind 
how  she  could  save  a  few  pennies  from  her 
indispensable  purchases,  to  get  tea  and  sugar, 
for  without  sugar  he  would  not  touch  it. 

Wearied  with  his  unusual  exertion,  the  old 
man  now  dropped  off  to  sleep,  and  Ann  went 
softly  about,  folding  and  piling  the  clothes  into 
a  big  basket  already  half  full.  When  they 
were  all  packed  in,  and  nicely  covered  with  a 
piece  of  clean  muslin,  she  took  an  old  shawl 
and  hood  from  a  nail  in  the  corner,  put  them 
on,  blew  out  the  candle,  for  it  must  not  burn 
one  moment  unnecessarily,  and  taking  up  her 
basket,  went  out  into  the  cold  winter  night, 
softly  closing  the  door  behind  her. 

The  house  was  on  an  alley,  but  as  soon  as 
she  turned  the  corner  she  was  in  the  bright 
streets,  glittering  with  lamps  and  gay  people. 
The  shop  windows  were  brilliant  with  Christ- 
mas displays,  and  thousands  of  warmly  dressed 
buyers  were  lingering  before  them,  laughing 
and  chatting,  and  selecting  their  purchases. 
Surely  it  seemed  as  if  there  could  be  no  want 
here. 


CHRISTMAS  IN  THE  ALLEY          241 

As  quickly  as  her  burden  would  let  her,  the 
old  washerwoman  passed  through  the  crowd 
into  a  broad  street  and  rang  the  basement  bell 
of  a  large,  showy  house. 

"  Oh,  it 's  the  washerwoman  ! "  said  a  flashy- 
looking  servant  who  answered  the  bell ;  "  set 
the  basket  right  in  here.  Mrs.  Keithe  can't 
look  them  over  to-night,  there 's  company  in 
the  parlor  —  Miss  Carry's  Christmas  party." 

"  Ask  her  to  please  pay  me  —  at  least  a 
part,"  said  old  Ann  hastily.  "  I  don't  see  how 
I  can  do  without  the  money.  I  counted  on  it." 

"  I  '11  ask  her,"  said  the  pert  young  woman, 
turning  to  go  up-stairs  ;  "  but  it 's  no  use." 

Returning  in  a  moment,  she  delivered  the 
message.  "  She  has  no  change  to-night,  you  're 
to  come  in  the  morning." 

"  Dear  me  !  "  thought  Ann,  as  she  plodded 
back  through  the  streets,  "  it  '11  be  even  worse 
than  I  expected,  for  there  's  not  a  morsel  to 
eat  in  the  house,  and  not  a  penny  to  buy  one 
with.  Well  —  well  —  the  Lord  will  provide, 
the  Good  Book  says,  but  it  's  mighty  dark 
days,  and  it 's  hard  to  believe." 


242         KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

Entering  the  house,  Ann  sat  down  silently 
before  the  expiring  fire.  She  was  tired,  her 
bones  ached,  and  she  was  faint  for  want  of 
food. 

Wearily  she  rested  her  head  on  her  hands, 
and  tried  to  think  of  some  way  to  get  a  few 
cents.  She  had  nothing  she  could  sell  or  pawn, 
everything  she  could  do  without  had  gone 
before,  in  similar  emergencies.  After  sitting 
there  some  time,  and  revolving  plan  after  plan, 
only  to  find  them  all  impossible,  she  was  forced 
to  conclude  that  they  must  go  supperless  to 
bed. 

Her  husband  grumbled  and  Katey  —  who 
came  in  from  a  neighbor's  —  cried  with  hun- 
ger, and  after  they  were  asleep  old  Ann  crept 
into  bed  to  keep  warm,  more  disheartened  than 
she  had  been  all  winter. 

If  we  could  only  see  a  little  way  ahead  ! 
All  this  time  —  the  darkest  the  house  on  the 
alley  had  seen  —  help  was  on  the  way  to  them. 
A  kind-hearted  city  missionary,  visiting  one 
of  the  unfortunate  families  living  in  the  upper 
rooms  of  old  Ann's  house,  had  learned  from 


CHRISTMAS  IN  THE  ALLEY          243 

them  of  the  noble  charity  of  the  humble  old 
washerwoman.  It  was  more  than  princely 
charity,  for  she  not  only  denied  herself  nearly 
every  comfort,  but  she  endured  the  reproaches 
of  her  husband,  and  the  tears  of  her  child. 

Telling  the  story  to  a  party  of  his  friends 
this  Christmas  eve,  their  hearts  were  touched, 
and  they  at  once  emptied  their  purses  into  his 
hands  for  her.  And  the  gift  was  at  that  very 
moment  in  the  pocket  of  the  missionary,  wait- 
ing for  morning  to  make  her  Christmas  happy. 

Christmas  morning  broke  clear  and  cold. 
Ann  was  up  early,  as  usual,  made  her  fire,  with 
the  last  of  her  coal,  cleared  up  her  two  rooms, 
and  leaving  her  husband  and  Katey  in  bed, 
was  about  starting  out  to  try  and  get  her 
money,  to  provide  a  breakfast  for  them.  At 
the  door  she  met  the  missionary. 

"  Good-morning,  Ann,"  he  said.  "  I  wish 
you  a  merry  Christmas." 

"  Thank  you,  sir,"  said  Ann  cheerfully ; 
"  the  same  to  yourself." 

"Have  you  been  to  breakfast  already?" 
asked  the  missionary. 


244         KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

"  No,  sir,"  said  Ann.  "  I  was  just  going  out 
for  it." 

"  I  have  n't  either,"  said  he,  "  but  I  could  n't 
bear  to  wait  till  I  had  eaten  breakfast  before  I 
brought  you  your  Christmas  present  —  I  sus- 
pect you  have  n't  had  any  yet." 

Ann  smiled.  "  Indeed,  sir,  I  have  n't  had 
one  since  I  can  remember." 

"  Well,  I  have  one  for  you.  Come  in,  and 
I  '11  tell  you  about  it." 

Too  much  amazed  for  words,  Ann  led  him 
into  the  room.  The  missionary  opened  his 
purse,  and  handed  her  a  roll  of  bills. 

"  Why  !  —  what !  -  "  she  gasped,  taking  it 
mechanically. 

"  Some  friends  of  mine  heard  of  your  gen- 
erous treatment  of  the  poor  families  up-stairs," 
he  went  on,  "and  they  send  you  this,  with 
their  respects  and  best  wishes  for  Christmas. 
Do  just  what  you  please  with  it  —  it  is  wholly 
yours.  No  thanks,"  he  went  on,  as  she  strug- 
gled to  speak.  "  It 's  not  from  me.  Just 
enjoy  it  —  that 's  all.  It  has  done  them  more 
good  to  give  than  it  can  you  to  receive," 


CHRISTMAS  IN  THE  ALLEY          245 

and  before  she  could  speak  a  word  he  was 
gone. 

What  did  the  old  washerwoman  do  ? 

Well  —  first  she  fell  on  her  knees  and  buried 
her  agitated  face  in  the  bedclothes.  After 
a  while  she  became  aware  of  a  storm  of  words 
from  her  husband,  and  she  got  up,  subdued  — 
as  much  as  possible  —  her  agitation,  and  tried 
to  answer  his  frantic  questions. 

"  How  much  did  he  give  you,  old  stupid?" 
he  screamed ;  "  can't  you  speak,  or  are  you 
struck  dumb  ?  —  Wake  up  !  —  I  just  wish  I 
could  reach  you !  —  I'd  shake  you  till  your 
teeth  rattled ! " 

If  his  vicious  looks  were  a  sign,  it  was  evi- 
dent that  he  only  lacked  the  strength  to  be  as 
good  as  his  word. 

Ann  roused  herself  from  her  stupor  and 
spoke  at  last. 

"I  don't  know.  I'll  count  it."  She  un- 
rolled the  bills  and  began. 

"  0  Lord !  "  she  exclaimed  excitedly,  "  here 's 
ten-dollar  bills !  One,  two,  three,  and  a  twenty 
—  that  makes  five  —  and  five  are  fifty-five  — 


246        KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

sixty —  seventy —  eighty —  eighty-five — ninety 
—  one  hundred  —  and  two  and  five  are  seven, 
and  two  and  one  are  ten,  twenty  —  twenty- 
five  —  one  hundred  and  twenty-five !  Why, 
I  'm  rich  !  "  she  shouted.  "  Bless  the  Lord  ! 
Oh,  this  is  the  glorious  Christmas  day !  I 
knew  He  'd  provide.  Katey  !  Katey !  "  she 
screamed  at  the  door  of  the  other  room,  where 
the  child  lay  asleep.  "Merry  Christmas  to 
you,  darlin' !  Now  you  can  have  some  shoes  ! 
and  a  new  dress  !  and  —  and  —  breakfast,  and 
a  regular  Christmas  dinner  !  Oh  !  I  believe  I 
shall  go  crazy! " 

But  she  did  not.  Joy  seldom  hurts  people, 
and  she  was  brought  back  to  every-day 
affairs  by  the  querulous  voice  of  her  hus- 
band. 

"  Now  I  will  have  my  tea,  an'  a  new  blan- 
ket, an'  some  tobacco  —  how  I  have  wanted  a 
pipe  !  "  and  he  went  on  enumerating  his  wants 
while  Ann  bustled  about,  putting  away  most 
of  her  money,  and  once  more  getting  ready 
to  go  out. 

"  I  '11  run  out  and  get  some  breakfast,"  she 


CHRISTMAS  IN  THE  ALLEY          247 

said,  "  but  don't  you  tell  a  soul  about  the 
money." 

"  No  !  they  '11  rob  us  !  "  shrieked  the  old 
man. 

"  Nonsense !  I  '11  hide  it  well,  but  I  want 
to  keep  it  a  secret  for  another  reason.  Mind, 
Katey,  don't  you  tell." 

"  No  !  "  said  Katey,  with  wide  eyes.  "  But 
can  I  truly  have  a  new  frock,  Mammy,  and 
new  shoes  ?  —  and  is  it  really  Christmas  ?  " 

"  It 's  really  Christmas,  darlin',"  said  Ann, 
"  and  you  '11  see  what  Mammy  '11  bring  home 
to  you,  after  breakfast." 

The  luxurious  meal  of  sausages,  potatoes, 
and  hot  tea  was  soon  smoking  on  the  table, 
and  was  eagerly  devoured  by  Katey  and  her 
father.  But  Ann  could  not  eat  much.  She 
was  absent-minded,  and  only  drank  a  cup  of 
tea.  As  soon  as  breakfast  was  over,  she  left 
Katey  to  wash  the  dishes,  and  started  out 
again. 

She  walked  slowly  down  the  street,  revolv- 
ing a  great  plan  in  her  mind. 

"  Let  me  see,"  she  said  to  herself.    "  They 


248         KRISTY'S   QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

shall  have  a  happy  day  for  once.  I  suppose 
John  '11  grumble,  but  the  Lord  has  sent  me 
this  money,  and  I  mean  to  use  part  of  it  to 
make  one  good  day  for  them." 

Having  settled  this  in  her  mind,  she  walked 
on  more  quickly,  and  visited  various  shops  in 
the  neighborhood.  When  at  last  she  went 
home,  her  big  basket  was  stuffed  as  full  as  it 
could  hold,  and  she  carried  a  bundle  besides. 

"  Here 's  your  tea,  John,"  she  said  cheer- 
fully, as  she  unpacked  the  basket,  "  a  whole 
pound  of  it,  and  sugar,  and  tobacco,  and  a  new 
pipe." 

"  Give  me  some  now,"  said  the  old  man 
eagerly ;  "  don't  wait  to  take  out  the  rest  of 
the  things." 

"  And  here 's  a  new  frock  for  you,  Katey," 
old  Ann  went  on,  after  making  John  happy 
with  his  treasures,  "  a  real  bright  one,  and  a 
pair  of  shoes  and  some  real  woolen  stockings ; 
oh  !  how  warm  you  '11  be  !  " 

"  Oh,  how  nice,  Mammy ! "  cried  Katey, 
jumping  about.  "  When  will  you  make  my 
frock?" 


CHRISTMAS  IN  THE  ALLEY          249 

"  To-morrow,"  answered  the  mother,  "  and 
you  can  go  to  school  again." 

"  Oh,  goody  !"  she  began,  but  her  face  fell. 
"  If  only  Molly  Parker  could  go  too  !  " 

"  You  wait  and  see,"  answered  Ann,  with 
a  knowing  look.  "  WHo  knows  what  Christ- 
mas will  bring  to  Molly  Parker  ?  " 

"  Now  here  's  a  nice  big  roast,"  the  happy 
woman  went  on,  still  unpacking,  "  and  pota- 
toes and  turnips  and  cabbage  and  bread  and 
butter  and  coffee  and  —  " 

"  What  in  the  world  !  You  goin'  to  give  a 
party  ?  "  asked  the  old  man  between  the  puffs, 
staring  at  her  in  wonder. 

"  I  '11  tell  you  just  what  I  am  going  to  do," 
said  Ann  firmly,  bracing  herself  for  opposition, 
"  and  it 's  as  good  as  done,  so  you  need  n't  say 
a  word  about  it.  I  'm  going  to  have  a  Christ- 
mas dinner,  and  I  'm  going  to  invite  every 
blessed  soul  in  this  house  to  come.  They 
shall  be  warm  and  full  for  once  in  their  lives, 
please  God  !  And  Katey,"  she  went  on  breath- 
lessly, before  the  old  man  had  sufficiently  re- 
covered from  his  astonishment  to  speak,  "  go 


250         KRISTY'S  QUEER  CHRISTMAS 

right  up-stairs  now,  and  invite  every  one  of 
'em,  from  the  fathers  down  to  Mrs.  Parker's 
baby,  to  come  to  dinner  at  three  o'clock ; 
we  '11  have  to  keep  fashionable  hours,  it 's  so 
late  now ;  and  mind,  Katey,  not  a  word  about 
the  money.  And  hurry  back,  child,  I  want 
you  to  help  me." 

To  her  surprise,  the  opposition  from  her 
husband  was  less  than  she  expected.  The 
genial  tobacco  seemed  to  have  quieted  his 
nerves,  and  even  opened  his  heart.  Grateful 
for  this,  Ann  resolved  that  his  pipe  should 
never  lack  tobacco  while  she  could  work. 

But  now  the  cares  of  dinner  absorbed  her. 
The  meat  and  vegetables  were  prepared,  the 
pudding  made,  and  the  long  table  spread, 
though  she  had  to  borrow  every  table  in  the 
house,  and  every  dish  to  have  enough  to  go 
around. 

At  three  o'clock  when  the  guests  came  in,  it 
was  really  a  very  pleasant  sight.  The  bright 
warm  fire,  the  long  table,  covered  with  a  sub- 
stantial, and  to  them,  luxurious  meal,  all 
smoking  hot.  John,  in  his  neatly  brushed  suit, 


CHRISTMAS   IN  THE  ALLEY          251 

in  an  armchair  at  the  foot  of  the  table,  Ann 
in  a  bustle  of  hurry  and  welcome,  and  a  plate 
and  a  seat  for  every  one. 

How  the  half-starved  creatures  enjoyed  it, 
how  the  children  stuffed  and  the  parents 
looked  on  with  a  happiness  that  was  very  near 
to  tears,  how  old  John  actually  smiled  and 
urged  them  to  send  back  their  plates  again 
and  again,  and  how  Ann,  the  washerwoman, 
was  the  life  and  soul  of  it  ah",  I  can't  half 
tell. 

After  dinner,  when  the  poor  women  lodgers 
insisted  on  clearing  up,  and  the  poor  men  sat 
down  by  the  fire  to  smoke,  for  old  John  actu- 
ally passed  around  his  beloved  tobacco,  Ann 
quietly  slipped  out  a  few  minutes,  took  four 
large  bundles  from  a  closet  under  the  stairs, 
and  disappeared  up-stairs.  She  was  scarcely 
missed  before  she  was  back  again. 

Well,  of  course,  it  was  a  great  day  in  the 
house  on  the  alley,  and  the  guests  sat  long  into 
the  twilight  before  the  warm  fire  talking  of 
their  old  homes  in  the  fatherland,  the  hard 
winter,  and  prospects  for  work  in  the  spring. 


252         KRISTY'S   QUEER   CHRISTMAS 

When  at  last  they  returned  to  the  chilly  dis- 
comfort of  their  own  rooms,  each  family  found 
a  package  containing  a  new  warm  dress  and 
pair  of  shoes  for  every  woman  and  child  in 
the  family. 

"  And  I  have  enough  left,"  said  Ann,  the 
washerwoman,  to  herself,  when  she  was  reck- 
oning up  the  expenses  of  the  day,  "  to  buy 
my  coal  and  pay  my  rent  till  spring,  so  I  can 
save  my  old  bones  a  bit.  And  sure  John 
can't  grumble  at  their  staying  now,  for  it 's 
all  along  of  keeping  them  that  I  had  such  a 
blessed  Christmas  day  at  all." 

"That's  the  best  of  all,"  said  Grandma. 
"I'm  glad  Kristy  didn't  let  us  lose  that 
story." 

"  I  knew  it  would  be  one  of  the  very  best," 
said  Kristy  warmly.  "  Mamma  does  tell  beau- 
tiful stories.  And  now  I  '11  go  to  bed,  if  you 
please,  and  the  rest  of  you  may  have  some- 
thing to  eat  after  your  labors." 

The  four-hand  throne  was  made  once  more 
by  her  two  uncles  and  Kristy  seated  upon  it. 


CHRISTMAS  IN   THE  ALLEY          253 

At  the  door  she  asked  them  to  stop  a  moment 
while  she  said  good-night. 

"  My  dear  guests,"  she  began,  "  I  hope 
you  've  enjoyed  the  evening  half  as  much  as  I 
have.  As  for  me,  I  thank  you  for  the  most 
delightful  Christmas  I  ever  had,  and  I  mean 
to  invite  you  to  do  it  over  again  next  year." 

This  announcement  was  received  with  groans 
and  cries  of  "  No  !  no !  "  but  Kristy  laughed, 
kissed  her  hand  good-night,  and  only  said : 

"You '11  see!" 


(Cbe  ffitoersi&e 

Electrotyjxd  and printed  by  H.  O.  Houghton  &•  Co. 
Cambridge,  Mast.,  U.  S.  A.  , 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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